(Not) Supernatural
by Cursed Detective
Summary: Misunderstandings and assumptions abound. (Because experimental poisons and antidotes HAVE to have issues when combined.) Eventual KaiShin - non-explicit.
1. Vampire

_So. New story? I had a plotbunny. It escaped the hutch and ran rampant. I_ tried _to corral it, really I did, but..._

 _(Also, fanfiction. Does this count as a disclaimer?)_

 ** _(Not) Supernatural_**

 ** _(1)  
_** _Vampire_

Nakamori growled from where he—along with half of the Taskforce members that had been called for duty this heist—were hanging in a net five feet off the floor in a tangle of limbs and resigned sighs. He couldn't get enough air for a proper shout, half-squished by one of the bulkier (as in _tank-like_ ) members of his force who was mostly on top of him.

 _Damn thief._

Kid was, dare he say it, _ecstatic._ Kudo Shinichi had shown up for the first time in four years for the actual chase, after that ridiculous flyby at the Ekoda Clock Tower. (Sure the boy had shown up a few other times, but those were for more dangerous criminals using Kid or Kid's heists as cover.) Not only that, but the boy had pointed out the thief with a thirty second glance around the room and a smirk that looked _entirely_ too Kid-like for Nakamori's comfort.

He dropped the soccer ball he'd brought with him (which had started out as a 'what the hell' moment when Nakamori had first spotted the detective) and kicked it at a seemingly random Taskforce member, at least as accurately as that little Kid Killer cousin of his. Well, Edogawa had to have learned it _somewhere,_ he supposed.

Kid had yelped, dived sideways, and ditched the disguise in a puff of pink smoke that knocked out every real Taskforce member within eight meters.

The chase had begun.

It ended with Hakuba Saguru duct-taped to the wall, Nakamori and his fellow unfortunates hanging from the ceiling, and the rest of the force scattered in varying states of color and consciousness. All those still awake were taped to something, florescent pink clashingly bright against riot gear.

Kudo was the only one both conscious and free, and he dropped to one knee to touch his heel in a move that seemed oddly practiced. Come to think, he'd seen Edogawa make that gesture—some kind of habitual luck ritual? The kid had packed a mean kick after every time he did it. But Kudo didn't have anything _to_ kick…

Kid backed up, eyes wide and smile turning very nervous despite the obvious lack of projectiles, "Now, Meitantei, no need to be hasty—"

"After all the times you've used me as a disguise and gotten me in trouble with Ran?" Kudo _smirked_ , reminiscent of a shark with a very cornered fish, "I do believe this qualifies as _payback,_ Kid."

Nakamori wasn't sure what happened, but there was a hiss as Kudo stood and suddenly he was kicking something that he certainly hadn't had before and Kid flattened himself as low as he could while the something hit the stone wall behind him with a resounding **_crack_**.

Chunks of granite fell to the floor, a spherical indent centered in the middle of spiderwebbing cracks that spilled smaller chips and dust down the wall.

Kudo made an interested sound, eyeing the damage that had everyone in the room but himself stunned utterly silent, because a rapidly deflating _soccer ball_ flopped out of the indent.

 _Kudo had just broken a_ granite wall _by kicking a_ soccer ball _at it, what the_ actual **hell?**

"It seems I need to be more careful," Kudo mused, walking around the still-prone and very wide-eyed Kid to run a finger across one of the cracks, rubbing the grey powder between his fingers. "I believe I haven't gotten used to the… _differences_ yet. And as I don't actually want to kill you, Kaitou Kid-san, perhaps I shouldn't be coming to your heists for a few more weeks, hm?"

Kudo had been missing—no, not missing, working undercover—for nearly four years. After his return, he'd acknowledged being part of the takedown of a multi-national criminal organization, which had both media and police trying to watch his every move.

Two weeks ago, he'd gone _legitimately_ missing, and Mouri Ran had filed a report.

He'd turned up two days later, pale, shaking, and claiming to not remember anything. He'd refused hospital treatment, but allowed himself to be checked over by an Araide Tomoaki, who had determined him to be somewhat hypovolemic—not enough to require a transfusion—but otherwise reasonably healthy.

Put together with what had just happened, it sounded like something out of a Western horror story.

"R-right," Kid stood up cautiously, the stutter noticeable as he took three steps back towards the windows.

Kudo's head whipped towards him just as he lifted one fist, and the detective's expression went startlingly sharp as he lunged, "Kid! _Down!_ "

Smoke and shattering glass, quickly followed by Kid's voice: "Meitantei!"

A cough, worryingly wet. "Get out of here, Kid! It's _you_ they're shooting at!"

"Meitantei-" protesting and worried. Kid didn't worry without cause. Rarely even _with_ it—

The smoke was still too thick to see through, and Nakamori couldn't help but struggle against the netting. Shooting plus glass-shatter plus Kid-worry meant Kudo had been hit. Wet cough meant hit _bad._ "Call backup and an ambulance!" he snarled upwards, hoping at least one of those still awake could reach a phone.

Kudo snarled at nearly the same time, a terrifying sound with the bubbling wetness to it. "There are too many people in line with the window! Someone _else_ will get hit next time! _Go!_ "

A curse and a gust of wind, thinning the smoke enough for Nakamori to make out the figure kneeling, one hand pressed against his chest. Not enough to see how bad, but 'chest' and 'cough' meant at least a nicked lung, if not outright perforated.

Another cough, and Kudo turned his head to spit as the smoke continued to clear, the lurid red obvious in the glare of the overheads. He forced himself to his feet, unsteady but not as much so as Nakamori would have expected. "Ow," the detective grumbled, a dark splotch across the back of his thin summer jacket. Center-right, and _definite_ lung-shot.

Nakamori felt cold despite the bodies crushed against his by tight webbing as Kudo turned, one hand pressing against a slow-spreading blood splotch on the front of his chest while he wiped at the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth with the other, " _Don't_ call an ambulance," he countered, eyes on Hakuba, whom Nakamori could see had managed to work an arm free of tape to get at his phone. "Not a good idea, _believe_ me. I'll call my own little vampire scientist, thanks."

 _Not_ the word Nakamori had wanted to hear, because suddenly the supernatural wasn't looking quite so unreal. Several of the others made little alarmed sounds.

Kudo shook his head and stumbled over to a pillar, steps growing steadier with each meter passed, then tugged something and the net was lowered surprisingly gently to the floor. "Sniper's long gone," Kudo added tiredly, coughing again before spitting out another mouthful of blood. A breath, less wet, and he continued. "Sub-faction from the group I helped pin. I should have _known_ Snake and the ones he managed to get out wouldn't give up just because their employers got taken down."

Nakamori didn't know what to say and Hakuba made a hesitant sound, "Kudo-san?"

"Mm. I'll be fine, Hakuba-san. Bullet was through-and-through—and I'd prefer if no doctors got their hands on my blood, Keibu-san. Treat it as though it holds… let's go with the HIV virus, for comparable level of relative danger. It's not something that should be spread around."

 _Erk_ , was about the only thought he could get working.

"Are you a vampire?"

Nakamori didn't know who'd asked that. Nakamori didn't _want_ to know who'd asked that. "Don't answer that," he snapped. "Kudo, I don't know or _care_ what the hell is going on with you, but if you have any kind of condition that makes you dangerous and fast-healing, damn well keep it to yourself."

Kudo raised an eyebrow at him, a hint of amusement behind the gesture. "Of course, Keibu-san. The world needs not to know, after all."

Nakamori shuddered.

 _xxxx_

In point of fact, Kudo Shinichi was _not_ a vampire. No, it was an interesting and unexpected side-effect to having the virulent poison APTX 4869 introduced into his system followed by the _antidote_ to said virulent poison. His healing rate had been supercharged. Cell division speed had been increased by almost a power of three around injured tissue—not tripled, but a _power of three._

Haibara had been running tests ever since _that_ little tidbit had shown up. They'd found out by accident and reluctantly let Araide know about a poison/antidote combination with a possibly fortunate, possibly _unfortunate_ side effect, though not the actual effect that the poison had on him (or Haibara). Haibara had opted not to take the antidote, and was thus free of antidote side-effects.

As for the 'accident'…

Well, he hadn't been missing for two days by _choice._ His luck, as usual, had him happening on a crime—this time in planning rather than just passed—and he'd taken four bullets; two to his chest, one each to the abdomen and thigh. He'd been _sure_ he was going to die, but he'd woken up eighteen hours later still alive and in significantly less pain than he should have been.

It took him a few minutes to figure out what was happening, but his phone had been smashed and while he'd been in _less_ pain, he still wasn't going to be going anywhere at that moment. They'd dumped him in a forest, but hadn't gone through his things. Which was good, because he'd needed the pocket knife to dig the bullet out of his thigh. Some painful checking had proved the other three had gone through entirely, and the fact that he seriously looked like he'd been healing—untreated, but healing—for _weeks_ had him more than a little concerned about hospitals.

When he'd stumbled out of the forest, the clothes he'd been wearing buried and his spare set (because it paid to have a spare set, with his luck) badly scruffed but not bloody, he'd been woozy and tired and distinctively _not_ dead.

The bullets that had gone through his chest that time had been lung-shots, too (thankfully same side, and he didn't _drown_ ), so he wasn't all that concerned about dropping dead on the way home. Hell, he was even still _standing._

Although he needed to watch the power on his Shinichi-sized Agasa-tampered shoes. If they could get child-sized legs to crack concrete at higher powers, it made sense that even using relatively low power would have the adult-sized Shinichi's kicks even more deadly. Which was why he'd aimed to miss, actually, because he hadn't wanted to _hit_ Kid as much as scare him.

Still, the fact that he was more-or-less fine after having been shot in the lung and had kicked a piece of non-violent sports equipment hard enough to partially crush _granite…_ Okay, yeah, he could see where the man who'd asked had come up with 'vampire'. Not to mention what he'd called Haibara…

Precinct gossip was going to be all over that one.

 _xxxx_


	2. Okay

**_._**

 ** _(2)_** _  
Okay_

Kaito barely took the time to swap into a not-Kid and not-Kaito disguise before scrambling his way back towards the heist site, cursing silently at how very _un_ cooperative the wind had been. He'd been forced to land nearly twenty blocks from the building and there was no way he'd make it back before they'd gotten Shinichi out in an ambulance. With three hospitals relatively equidistant from the private museum, he wouldn't know where his favorite detective had been taken without checking with someone on-site.

Out of the alley he'd landed in, and he opened up into a steady run. He knew better than to sprint with that distance—if he burned out before he got there, it would take even _longer_ —and belatedly remembered his assistant.

Eight minutes later, Jii was dropping him off a half-block from the building and… there was no ambulance. Considering the private museum was set in the top floor of a high-rise (and high _price_ ) apartment complex, it would have taken paramedics at least five minutes to get to the top floor, then again to get back down. Even disregarding approaching travel time, there was no way an ambulance would have been gone already.

And it should certainly have already arrived.

Swap back out, recon-blacks and basic face-alter, and he slipped into the building.

Top floor, police conversations low and edgy, Nakamori pacing back and forth with hands tugging restlessly at his hair, Hakuba and the Taskforce mostly tape-free and the Brit frowning at blood on the floor—blood that every single one of the people in the room was giving wide berth, making the smudged puddle— _puddle!_ —and broken trail to the pillar he'd used as a release-switch for the net-trap very easy to spot.

Nakamori apparently made a decision, "Someone get a bucket of bleach and a mop! No one takes a sample! I want that blood _destroyed._ "

… The _heck?_

Not a sign of protest and several murmurs of _agreement._

Kaito made his way closer to the head of his Taskforce, careful to remain unseen, and heard a murmured sentence that was more of an explanation than he'd expected, and several shades off what he would normally _believe._

"If half those vampire stories are true, we should just be glad it was Kudo _._ "

His attention was thoroughly yanked to the two still picking bits of tape off their riot gear.

"What, that he was the one to get shot?" the other asked, low and not quite incredulous.

"Well… that too, but I mean that it _is_ Kudo. I mean, you've got to have heard the stories—bloodthirsty monsters, right? Instinct and hunger overwhelming whoever they used to be? As much death as he sees, Kudo _hates_ it; I've seen him on a case before. I can't imagine anyone else would have stayed sane."

A pause, "Yeah. Good point. Although… well, if _someone_ had to get shot, I guess I'm glad it was Kudo. Straight through the chest and he got back up like it was _nothing_ …"

Kaito bolted, trying to make his whirling thoughts still long enough to decipher. It sounded like—like they genuinely believed Meitantei was a _vampire._ On the one hand, everything he'd heard pointed towards Kudo Shinichi being alive and relatively fine despite having been shot. _Through the chest_.

On the other…

Meitantei, a vampire? That was a scary, _scary_ thought. One that warranted investigation, considering his classroom witch.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi paused mid-stride when he felt eyes on him. _Familiar_ eyes, at that, because there was only _one_ person who looked at Kudo Shinichi with the same burning curiosity as he'd looked at Edogawa Conan. Half of Division One had given the 'burning curiosity' stare when Shinichi had been barely a meter tall. Now, though, since none of them _knew_ he'd been Conan, the only one who looked at him like that was Kaitou Kid.

Though, admittedly, there was concern and wariness touching that curiosity.

He shook his head in less exasperation than usual, understanding that Kid had been given good reason to worry, considering that the thief had _known_ he'd been shot. So… it was going to be as obvious to Kid as it had been to the Taskforce—Shinichi's healing rate was anything but normal.

The Taskforce deciding he was a vampire had actually been a welcome—if amusing—assumption. Better that than the truth, anyway, because that it had been a drug-related side effect would have both himself and Haibara in danger all over again. The belief that it was a long-known curse of northern European origin had Haibara safe.

Although he'd have to be careful not to end up a test subject himself _._

So.

"Kid," he greeted the darkness, knowing the thief had to have gotten something out of the Taskforce in order to have tracked him down instead of gone scouting hospitals.

There was a long, hesitant pause.

"We're not at a heist," Shinichi pointed out.

A huff from the shadows and Kid—wearing black clothing and his usual smirk with his monocle showing under a ball-cap—slid into view from against the brick wall beside the sidewalk. "Any truth to the rumors, Meitantei?"

"Some," Shinichi admitted, "… but less than they believe."

Another silence as Kid fell into step beside him, one eye visibly locked on him with a streetlight's reflection off glass shielding the other from view. Shinichi wondered if he looked as bad as he felt. His chest _ached,_ and—while he wasn't coughing blood anymore—he was pretty sure he wasn't healed. It had taken two days last time, after all, and it had barely been half an hour.

"Are you really all right?"

Shinichi sighed, "Mostly. And since you'll never leave this alone without an actual explanation… come on, Kuroba. We're visiting Haibara."

The sudden, startled tensing beside him was well worth revealing his knowledge of Kid's identity.

"… Tantei-kun?"

"Mm?" Shinichi suppressed a grin.

"Nope," Kid—Kuroba, as he removed his monocle and eased his stride out of Kid's formal grace into something much more relaxed while tugging off some very subtle face-altering bits of fake skin, "I don't _want_ to know how you know, or how long you've known. Also, so long as we're on this—call me Kaito. You're _much_ more fun than Hakuba, Shin-chan!"

Ah-ha, _no._

"My _mother_ calls me Shin-chan, and I'd greatly appreciate it if you didn't. I'll let you get away with Shinichi. I _might_ let you get away with just about any other endearment you can come up with, but 'Shin-chan' is just… _no._ "

The other teen hummed thoughtfully, but thankfully didn't pounce on the dislike with a repeat of his mother's nickname. "Shinichi for now, then… and thank you."

Shinichi eyed him for a moment, then smiled. "You've kept my secrets. Unless you slip up at a heist, I'm willing to keep yours."

A laugh, bright and easy. "Heists are fair game, Meitantei! I'd be _disappointed_ if you let up on me!"

Shinichi couldn't help the return laugh, though it broke off in a pained grunt. Right. _Not_ healed, yet. _Ow._

Amusement vanished into alarm, but Shinichi waved off the attempt to check, "I'm okay," he assured. "I just need Haibara to check me over and make sure there aren't any side-effects."

A frown, but Kaito had stopped looking panicked. "All right, Shinichi, but I'm calling Jii-chan. You're _not_ walking and I'm not letting you take the train."

Shinichi huffed, knowing when to pick his battles. And if he were honest, a ride sounded pretty nice. He hadn't been looking forward to the trip. "… thanks."

 _xxxx_


	3. What?

_So, clearly I'm having too much fun with this one, as I haven't finished the next Lucid Dreams chapter before this one, even if this one_ is _short. On the other hand, I_ still _don't have a particularly clear idea on where this is going. Ah, well, I'll either figure it out or not._

 ** _(3)_** _  
What?_

Kaito stared at a certain shirtless detective in stunned horror from his perch on the bookcase—well, sort-of bookcase, as he was pretty sure that's what the piece of furniture had been _designed_ as, even though it had no shelves and had some strange nest of wires and hoses crawling up the inside of it—in Agasa Hiroshi's guest room.

He'd never been in the Hakase's house before, and it kind of seemed like a cross between his workshop, Jii's billiards parlor's heist-setup table blown up by about a hundred, and an American cartoon's mad scientist lair. He was still waiting to see what would blow up, and his uneasy mutter on entering the house had been met with a wry "Oh, you have _no_ idea," that had not put him at ease.

The mad scientist—Agasa-hakase, that was—had been puttering about in the kitchen making something presumably food-like while the not-eight-year-old with red-blonde hair had directed Shinichi to said guest room and told him to take off his shirt while she went to get her 'kit' (the bullet wound was visible from both sides of his chest, the mark on his back wide and red and angry while the one on the front was only slightly smaller) and it had taken several seconds for him to be able to look past the obviously painful marks from less than two hours before to see other injuries.

Two more marks on his chest that looked older, slightly lower-placed and making the new wound the high point of a lopsided triangle, one on his right just above his hip that looked very old, and another mid-left abdomen that seemed the same age as the two not-red ones on his chest.

How many times had Shinichi been _shot?_

Shinichi glanced up at him, down at his own scarred torso, and gave an understanding hum. "You heard I went missing two weeks ago, right? Came back relatively healthy and lacking memory from those two days?"

Kaito nodded, not trusting his voice at that moment.

A quick gesture, "I stumbled on a couple people planning a murder. One of them pulled out a gun and started shooting before I even realized they were there. I got hit four times—thigh, abdomen, and twice in the chest. I woke up the next morning in the woods, unable to move, but still alive. Took a while before I could get up and walk, but the fact that I _was_ still alive when I very much _shouldn't_ have been was a very good reason to keep quiet about it."

Kaito hesitated. That was four, but if one was 'thigh' then there was still one unaccounted for bullet-scar. "And the other?"

"The old one?" Shinichi rubbed a thumb over the one low on his right side, "I got that when I was Conan. Couple years ago—the kids wanted to explore a cave that a group of bank-robbers was hiding a body in. The leader pulled a gun. I managed to keep the kids from getting hit, but I passed out from blood loss before I could get them out. They did really well."

Someone had shot a _seven-year-old?_

"Hey, they were planning on killing all four of us. Haibara got my message and called the police and the kids kept us ahead of them until Division One showed up."

Haibara cleared her throat from the doorway, "If you're through fondly reminiscing on being _shot,_ Kudo-kun, I'd like to get on with this."

Shinichi shot her an unrepentant glance, but didn't protest as the girl stalked over, drew a few vials of blood, and listened to his lungs. Some prodding at the partially-healed injuries and a thoughtful hum later, she walked back out, tossing a "Stay, Kudo-kun. I'll run some tests and get back to you in a few hours."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Hai, hai. Oi, Kuroba, you going to perch up there all night?"

Kaito considered, then hopped down. "It's Kaito," he informed, then paused.

"Do you want me to leave?"

A one-shoulder shrug, "If you want. I don't mind if you stay, though."

Kaito hummed, then pointedly flopped himself across the bed beside an eyebrow-raising Shinichi. "I'd like to hear her say you're all right before I leave. No one's supposed to get hurt under my watch."

Shinichi snorted, "Then wear your vest next time. I _know_ you have one."

Kaito sighed, "I do, but it doesn't fit quite right. It wasn't made for me, after all."

Shinichi frowned slightly, "And it would be hard to adjust at best. Of course. Let me make a few calls—I'll get back to you about that. Meanwhile, ill-fitting is better than nothing if they're willing to shoot with the police in direct line-of-sight."

Kaito grimaced, but he couldn't dispute that, "They've never been so obvious before. Snake must be getting desperate."

"We took down their employers, who were undoubtedly the ones insisting on subtlety. Snake never struck me as particularly stable _or_ particularly practical. He wants you dead, and with no one setting the rules but him…"

"You _know_ him?"

Shinichi shook his head, "No better than you do. I was spying when he and Gin got in an argument over technique and being too obvious."

Kaito deflated. It would have been helpful if Shinichi knew more, because they might have been able to track the man down. Still, it was nice to know the detective cared.

Shinichi sighed, "Scoot. I'm going to take a nap until Haibara gets back. I'm exhausted."

Kaito sat up and moved to the foot of the bed, watching carefully as Shinichi lay down, twisting onto his left side to keep pressure off his right. Obviously it hurt more than he was saying, and Kaito got up to rummage for more pillows.

He ended up with a pile of blankets, but they would work. A few moments of arranging a careful nest to add support and take pressure off Shinichi's injuries—which Shinichi watched in bemusement at first, but didn't protest—and the detective let his eyes slide closed with a relieved breath, "Thanks, Kaito."

Kaito refrained from doing a victory dance. He'd gotten Shinichi to call him 'Kaito'!

 _xxxx_

Nakamori found himself wondering about a few other aspects of the heist that he hadn't had the presence of mind to think on with the shock of 'Kudo breaks granite with _soccer balls_ ' immediately being followed by 'Kudo has been shot through the _lung_ by a large-bore sniper rifle' (judging by the size of the wound, anyway) and then again followed by 'Kudo can _walk_ after having been shot through the lung by a large-bore sniper rifle' and 'Kudo's bleeding is rapidly slowing and he's _still standing_ '.

Added to a few of the earlier comments and the fact that Kudo had been having a noticeably easier time speaking after less than two minutes, the blood obviously no longer gathering in his lungs as he coughed it up, the whole 'vampire' thing really didn't seem all that unlikely.

With all that, one thing had managed to escape his mind.

Where the hell had Kudo _gotten_ the soccer ball?

 _xxxx_

 _Because Kaitou Kid is a force of nature, but Nakamori is not an idiot. You don't get his rank by being stupid. He's just not an insane genius._


	4. Impossible

_I'm alive! Merry Christmas! Have a present._

 ** _(4)  
Impossible._** _  
(The Haibara Interlude)_

Haibara frowned at the latest results, unable to come up with any other explanation than the one staring her in the face. This was… _should have been…_ impossible. Human bodies just didn't _work_ that way—

—but a toxin designed to cause a living body to self-destruct on a cellular level to the point of leaving behind only vapor and protein residue really shouldn't have managed to _shrink_ a human. Or anything else, for that matter.

Yes, it had been made to follow a rough sequence in the destruct-pattern to ensure the body had the time to properly disintegrate (and she knew exactly how terrible, how _agonizing_ it was, which was the main part of the reason she'd chosen to take it as her own punishment. Kudo had been the first human the Apotoxin had been used on, but he had not been the _only_ one. Not by far… and the others had been observed in their disintegrating to confirm the deaths), but even so it should not have been uniform enough to allow for survival. Certainly not regression to an apparent child-state—the others that the poison hadn't fully taken on had died anyway, leaving behind corpses that were small, misshapen, and not recognizable as human without cellular examination or DNA testing.

That Kudo had survived was a miracle. That she had also—well, that was _unbelievable._ (All further research showed the chance of survival was astronomically tiny, and the expectation would be of deformities and severe health issues plus an extremely shortened lifespan. Not pseudo- _childhood._ )

Now, though, the antidote she had managed to cobble together from guesswork and alcohol and Kudo's blood… it hadn't _removed_ the Apotoxin from his system. It had altered it, somewhat, in an attempt to render it fully inert, but that had obviously gone wrong somewhere.

So. Considering the initial trigger of a cell's destruction was in fact a cell _division_ that was interrupted and thus ended in cell death and the heat produced by essentially every cell in the body trying to divide at once had mass literally boiled away… Somehow, an eighth or so of Kudo's (and her) cells had managed to actually go through the entire division process, not only surviving but somehow managing to recycle materials from the self-destructing cells around them _and_ line up in a manner that patterned after a familiar template—that is, their child-bodies—it made a bizarre kind of sense that Kudo's cellular reproduction rate had been increased.

Take off the 'destruct' but leave the initial trigger…

However, there were several things that just weren't right, even considering the ridiculousness of surviving the initial poisoning.

It was cells dividing that prompted aging. Speeding that up should have sped up Kudo's aging—and considering the _rate,_ it should have been easily noticeable from week to week. It wasn't.

That could have been explained by the fact that the increase in cellular activity only showed up around injured tissue and slowed as the tissue healed, except _that_ didn't make sense either! It should have been an even, across-the-board, either it did or it didn't sort of thing.

 _Localized_ was just—medically impossible.

And happening anyway.

Not only that, but the relative age of the tissue was matching the rest of his twenty-year-old body. Which made no sense at _all_.

Well, the cells were still recycling materials from any damaged cells around them, though not completely. Which meant Kudo wouldn't starve to death in under a week, even injured, but he'd be _ravenous_ if he didn't eat more than usual because partial recycling wasn't enough to cover everything and pulling from reserves would leave him seeking a proverbial refuel.

So. All in all…

Haibara pushed open the door to the guest room and blinked. The boy that Kudo had brought with him—shrugging unapologetically when she had raised and eyebrow and introducing him as 'an old family friend, Kuroba Kaito' and whom Haibara was fairly sure was Kaitou Kid—was sitting on the floor, back braced against the bed and hands flickering absently through card-based magic tricks (definitely Kid, Haibara decided) while Kudo slept in a thoroughly supportive nest of blankets on top of said bed.

Kuroba glanced up as she entered, standing smoothly as his hands stilled, the cards nowhere in sight.

Haibara waved dismissively, "If Kudo's actually _sleeping_ for once," she informed, quiet and wry, "I'm inclined to leave him that way. I'll talk to him in the morning—meanwhile, he'll be fine. He'll wake up about ready to eat the whole _house_ , but he'll be fine."

Kuroba frowned, glancing at the nest of blankets before looking back at her, "He hasn't been sleeping?"

Haibara shrugged, "Not as much as he should. Nightmares, I think—he hasn't said anything, but…" she worried. More than she was willing to let on.

Kuroba's frown deepened, "Would it be alright if I stayed the night?"

Haibara blinked, taking a moment to examine the magician. He seemed genuinely concerned, his gaze flicking back to Kudo intermittently as his expression showed the faintest hint of a frown.

Haibara had a sudden, evil urge to match-make. She'd crushed on Kudo periodically, but she knew full well it was unrequited and had been careful to keep it unnoticed. She doubted they'd really work out as a couple anyway, irregardless of Kudo's more endearing traits. During the four years Kudo had been 'Edogawa', Mouri Ran had moved on and eventually he had lost his more romantic interest in her, but he certainly hadn't shown it towards anyone _else_.

If Kuroba (Kid) liked him, even if only as a friend, it would be very, _very_ entertaining to see how long it took one or both of them to figure out what she was doing. She could probably recruit the kids to help, too…

And it would be hysterically gratifying if it _worked._

"… Haibara-san?" Kuroba asked warily, drawing her attention back.

She shook herself, "Feel free, Kid-san. Mind you, this is the only available guest room; you'll find futons in the closet."

"Of course, Haibara-san. Thank you."

Haibara left, smirk firmly in place. He hadn't denied the 'Kid'.

 _xxxx_


	5. Possible

_Happy New Year!_

 ** _(5)  
Possible._**

Shinichi was only mildly surprised to wake up naturally in the morning, rather than having been awoken by an outside influence in the night. If Haibara had wanted him awake, he _would_ have woken, no matter how tired he'd been. She had some decidedly evil methods of insuring that kind of thing.

However, he was fairly certain she knew how little he'd been sleeping of late, and as she _was_ his doctor (friend, confidant, occasional bane of existence), she was a little less inclined to harass him when his health was poor. For a given value of 'harass', that was.

She'd've rousted him anyway if something was wrong, which meant he could probably just go back to sleep and she might let him be for a while longer, but his stomach was rather pointedly reminding him that he hadn't eaten the night before.

Exhaustion and hunger warred as predominate issues, and hunger won out. Shinichi sighed and rolled out of the nest of blankets Kuroba— _Kaito_ , Shinichi reminded himself of the request—had arranged around him, looking down at himself and grimacing at the itchy pull of the blood that had dried on his skin. He'd scrubbed the worst of it off with his now-ruined shirt, but had been too sore and _far_ too tired to properly clean up.

And now he was too hungry. Haibara would probably cut him a break, as she was pretty adamant on him (and Agasa) eating properly.

He blinked on entering the living room and seeing Kaito behind the kitchen counter, poking about in the fridge. What could have possessed _Kid_ to stay overnight with a mad scientist, a downright _scary_ mini-chemist of dubious origins, and a detective that had been known as the 'Kid Killer'?

On second thought, this _was_ Kid—he enjoyed living dangerously, given how utterly _delighted_ he'd been to see Shinichi at his heist. And Shinichi was a lot less inclined to ask when said Kid looked up with an expression that was brighter and less concealing than his heist grins and offered up a plate of what was recognizably Haibara's cooking.

"The little lady said you'd be hungry," Kaito's smile wasn't quite 'blinding', but it was getting close. "There's more in the fridge."

"You're a lifesaver, _thank you._ " Shinichi blurted as he took the plate, picked up the chopsticks that hadn't been there when Kaito had handed it to him (produced from behind the magician's shoulder rather than a sleeve-pocket) without commenting on the trick, and dug in.

Kaito watched him eat with an amused expression, but Shinichi was too hungry to care and didn't even bother to raise an eyebrow at the entertained scrutiny.

"Well, anyway," Kaito—half in 'Kid' mode, at that—grinned again and leaned against 'his' side of the kitchen counter, "Haibara-san insisted that you'll be fine, but also said that you should make sure to eat everything she left for you and she and the Hakase will be back in an hour or two. She would like to talk to you then—there was a heavy implication of 'do not let him leave the house, Kaitou Kid, or I will make your life very unpleasant'. You didn't tell her, did you."

The last lacked the inflection to make a question despite the choice of words, so Shinichi didn't bother to answer past smirking around his chopsticks.

Kaito groaned, pulling a dramatic flop-over backwards onto the floor that would have Shinichi worried about head injuries had it been anyone else trying the stunt. As it was, he rolled his eyes—completely unseen by the magician behind the counter—and finished clearing his plate. Still hungry, Shinichi got up to check the fridge. It sounded like Haibara had accounted for the fact that he was completely ravenous, which meant there was some kind of medical explanation for it, and the chemist could cook _._ With some dishes, she was better than _Ran._

Pleased with his find—a fair-sized bowl of rice, vegetables, and pieces of fish that had more fish than vegetables (protein was a concern, then)—he ignored the magician pouting at him from the floor and snagged his chopsticks off the empty plate before setting the plate in the sink, leaning back against the counter, and starting on the bowl standing up.

"No pity," Kaito grinned, clearly not nearly as pouty as he was trying to pretend he was as he flipped himself back to his feet. "Well, my dear Tantei-kun, I assume all your friends will find me out just as easily. Should I worry?"

"Depends on how much trouble you cause," Shinichi informed, intrigued by the brief but noticeable grimace aimed at the piece of fish in his chopsticks. He observed Kaito's reaction to him eating the morsel as more relief than disgust and had a tentative idea as to the cause.

Wary, but lack of _fear_ … so, Kaito knew it was fish and the idea made him cautious, but it didn't look like an actual whole creature… hm. "Are you ichthyophobic?"

"Wh-how did—?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes'. What should I avoid? Obviously this is pushing the edges of your comfort levels…"

"Obviously?" Kaito repeated weakly, looking a bit shell-shocked.

Shinichi shrugged, picking out and eating the fish with quick efficiency. "You're not disgusted by me eating it, so it's not the concept of 'fish as food'. I'd hazard a guess towards whole fish, probably worse if they're live."

A shudder, "Please stop saying that word."

"Or even the visualization," Shinichi shook his head, frowning in consideration and almost forgetting his food. "What about cephalopods and bivalves? Crustaceans?"

Kaito huffed, "Just—the bug-eyed scaly things. I don't even have a problem with sharks or eels, and I know that technically they _are_."

"Do you know why?" the bowl was now fish-free, so Shinichi set it aside to focus more of his attention on the magician.

Kaito was shook his head. "Kaa-chan said it started when I was little, and Oyaji didn't tell her what had happened. I don't remember, myself. And eat your food; your little doctor will do something unpleasant to me if you don't."

Shinichi gave a token sound of resistance, but dropped the subject. It was clear that Kaito was telling the truth on that front, and he seemed relieved about something that was less the subject than—of _course_. Being afraid of something like fish was unusual and it was likely that others had teased him for the fear on finding out.

Shinichi knew quite well though: phobias were not a laughing matter. That kind of fear… his may not have been a _phobia,_ living as Conan, but the _level_ of fear was the same. His had been rational; his reasons had been understandable and sound, but the sheer intensity had been on that of phobia. _Paralyzing_.

That the main source of his fear had been settled was a relief beyond anything words could express, but he _still_ could not bring himself to tell Ran or anyone else who didn't know who Conan had been. The terror of what might happen was still there, and _that_ was bordering on true phobia, except it stemmed from the very real fact that there were branch and subsidiary groups of the Black still loose.

So, no. Shinichi knew full-well that fear was nothing to mock. There was nothing _amusing_ about the kind of terror that made your thoughts blank out and your body shake. He picked up his bowl and spared a moment to glance at Kaito.

"It's not funny, you know."

 _xxxx_

Kaito pulled up short. He'd been startled at how easily his favorite detective had read him, but it _was_ Shinichi. Even as Conan—thus with a less clear vantage point on reading expression and the literal upper portions of body language—he'd been _creepily_ perceptive. It shouldn't be a shock that he could read Kaito even more easily while able to look him in the eye without straining his neck.

That last, though… not the _reading_ of him, though the perception was a little unnerving, but the actual content of the comment. He was so _sincere_ , with that, a tone to it that said he knew full-well the fear Kaito had felt. _Would_ feel, because this was _Japan_ and sea life was a pretty staple food.

The source of the fear was ridiculous, and Kaito knew it, but for Shinichi to tell him that it wasn't _funny_ … that was… he didn't _know_ what that was, aside from unexpectedly kind.

But it sounded like Shinichi meant it on more than just that level, or maybe not even out of 'kindness' at all.

Kaito tipped his head back and blew out a breath. "You know who I am," he stated.

He felt Shinichi's raised eyebrow without even looking—the pointed silence was implying several levels of 'obviously' and 'are you going somewhere with this?'. He was, actually.

"Think we could be friends?"

A longer pause, then a soft double-click as bamboo hit ceramic, "I thought we already were."

Kaito blinked and looked at the detective, catching the wry fondness directed his way for what it was. He grinned, because _he'd_ thought they were already friends, too, but there was a secondary reason for asking. "I mean 'do we have an excuse'?"

To his surprise, Shinichi grinned back, "You mean you really don't know? Kuroba Toichi taught my mom all her annoying tricks and was my godfather. My dad's yours, by the way. We don't need an excuse, we have a _reason._ "

Somehow, that made more sense than it didn't. He'd interrogate certain detectives and family members later. For now…

"Gods, Shinichi, where have you _been_ all my life?"

The immediate, deadpan reply of "Chasing murderers," really shouldn't have a hysteric sort of happiness bubbling up in his chest, but it was an acceptance of him and his presence that was so far from what he once would have thought possible that it felt like fairytales and victory.

 _xxxx_


	6. Probable

_Still alive. Easily tired and with what seems to be a perpetual headache, but... well, I'd go insane if I didn't write. As it is, this one is finished before LD again, but, well... better something than nothing, right?_

 ** _(6)  
Probable._**

Kaito opted to tag along when Shinichi headed out after an informative talk with Haibara, and Shinichi didn't even offer a token complaint. On the way, Kaito explained his relationship with the Nakamori family and the Taskforce as well as a certain British detective (during which Shinichi snickered at him) and molded some very realistic fake tiny puncture wounds that he applied to the junction of his shoulder and neck before slapping a bandage that had been lightly dabbed with fake blood over them.

"You're terrible," Shinichi informed.

"Hey, you've got yourself a very weird explanation running through the ranks and I need an excuse for showing up with you today. It's better than them asking questions, right?"

"So you're counting on someone noticing that under the edge of your collar."

"And Hakuba being his normal nosy self if he's there, which he almost always is the day after a heist."

"Might want to look a little more pale, then," Shinichi sighed, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Ooh, good idea," Kaito grinned, somehow managing to make himself look just a touch pale without makeup and moving closer to Shinichi as they neared the Ekoda Division headquarters, suddenly a tiny bit wobbly.

Even knowing it was an act, Shinichi automatically reached out to steady him. "You should have stayed back at my place," he scolded as Kaito leaned into him for a moment, slowing until Kaito 'steadied' as one of the Taskforce members came within easy hearing-range.

"Not leaving you to deal with Nakamori-keibu on your own after that," Kaito refuted. "If he starts yelling, you'll go all snarly on him. On a _good_ day. I'm not so sure this is you on a good day."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Fine, fine. Let's get out of the sun, already."

Kaito shot him a cheeky grin and Shinichi shoved open the door before steering Kaito inside and to the nearest chair. "Stay," he instructed before crossing the lobby to the vending machines.

Two chocolate bars and a water bottle in hand, he made his way back over to Kaito, who—surprise, surprise—had been completely right about Hakuba being there and was being questioned by said blond.

Shinichi cut in with the sort of protective irritability that he would have if one of his friends really _was_ suffering from blood-loss and was sitting dizzily in a chair, even though Kaito was only faking. Authenticity demanded no less, after all. "Hakuba-san, I would greatly appreciate it if you would leave Kaito alone today. He doesn't need to deal with you _and_ the headache."

Hakuba startled, jerking around to stare. "Kudo-san?"

Shinichi gave a curt nod, sidestepping the Brit and handing Kaito one of the chocolate bars and the water. "Eat all of that," he instructed, "I've got another for you in ten minutes. And drink the water!"

Kaito grinned at him, still looking a little shaky, "You're the _best,"_ he managed to sound almost adoring and matter-of-fact all at once. So, the guess on 'chocolate addict' was probably right, or at least 'sugar addict'.

There was a strange sound from Hakuba's direction, so Shinichi turned to give him an unimpressed glance as Kaito bit into the chocolate and stood up, swaying almost imperceptibly before starting towards Nakamori's office.

Shinichi moved to spot him, 'just in case'. Hakuba would notice both of those things; he was a decent detective for all his superior attitude at times.

"You two _know_ each other?" Hakuba demanded, pushing open the Taskforce bullpen's door, where Nakamori was grumbling at a few of the officers.

Shinichi snorted, "Toi-san was my godfather. Tou-san's Kaito's. Of _course_ we know each other."

Nakamori stopped in his half-volume cursing, glancing over at the three as Hakuba shut the door behind them.

"Ah…"

"Look, I'm just here to do my share of the paperwork from last night. Kaito's planning on babysitting either me or you, Nakamori-keibu, I'm not sure which."

"I'm just here to make sure no one gets hurt," Kaito informed. "After hearing from _gossiping Taskforce members_ that you got _shot_ last night, I think I'm entitled to hover."

"Yes, because it's _always_ a good idea to run around Tokyo after losing a few pints of blood."

"One: you're exaggerating, and two: you're walking around uninjured; I don't want to hear any complaints out of you."

There was a soft ' _grk'_ sound from Hakuba and everyone in hearing range went dead silent. Considering the fact that they were in the bullpen with five Taskforce members and Nakamori himself, that was saying something.

"If last night hadn't been quite as obvious as it was, I would _so_ hate you for saying it that way."

Kaito only grinned at him, "That's what you get for getting yourself shot in front of the police."

"And would you have rathered that someone _else_ get shot?"

Kaito paused. "Ano…" On the one had, yes, he would sort-of rather be the one getting shot if he was the one the shooter was aiming at, but on the other, Shinichi could _get back up from it._

Shinichi quirked a sardonic eyebrow.

"You know what? I'd rather _no one_ got shot."

"Good answer. That said, it's a little late to worry about keeping this from the police, although I'm still hoping we can keep it from the rest of the world…?" Shinichi glanced at Nakamori.

"I know nothing," Nakamori stated, raising his hands placatingly. "There were shots fired, but no one is injured. I can swear to that in front of a judge."

Kaito snickered, then swayed.

Shinichi caught his elbow with an exasperated huff before glancing at Hakuba—who still seemed a little unsteady himself. "Chair?" he prompted.

Hakuba blinked twice, shaking his head a bit as though to clear it, and Nakamori grabbed the nearest chair to him and dragged it over to them before the Brit managed to gather himself.

Shinichi unceremoniously dumped Kaito into the chair and passed him the second chocolate bar.

"See?" Kaito grinned up at him, "You love me!"

"Not wanting you to pass out on the floor is basic decency."

"That wasn't a _denial~!_ "

"You suck."

"And you get cranky when you're hungry."

The entire group of others in the room took a collective step back, then Nakamori cleared his throat almost hesitantly. "Can we just get the paperwork filled out?"

The ' _so you can_ _leave_ ' was heavily implied.

Shinichi nodded once, casting a sharp glance at Kaito when he made as if to stand. "Kaito, _stay._ Hakuba, keep him there. I'll be back soon."

Kaito pouted, but settled back again, and Shinichi turned to follow Nakamori to his office on the far side of the bullpen. This kind of paperwork never took long anymore, he had so much practice filling it out.

Having Nakamori give him a nervous look as the door closed was somewhere between irritating and hilarious. On the one hand, it meant that the police inspector _did_ believe the new theory. On the other…

"Do you have so little faith in me, Nakamori-keibu?"

The head of the Taskforce jerked.

" _I will not take a life._ "

Nakamori swallowed, then nodded. "I think we all know that. It's just… damn it, Kudo, how are we _supposed_ to react?"

Shinichi shook his head, a half-smirk quirking his lips. "Welcome to my life, Nakamori-keibu. It's just another day."

 _xxxx_

Hakuba had been surprised to see Kuroba sitting in one of the waiting chairs in the station lobby—surprised and quickly concerned, as his classmate/'main Kid suspect' seemed a little pale and hadn't noticed him enter the room. And was _sitting quietly._

He didn't seem to be favoring any particular part of his body, but with the heist the night before having ended with Kid going out the window and Kudo _shot…_ well. The possibility existed that Kid hadn't managed to escape completely unscathed.

Bandage on his shoulder—well, just below the front of his trapezius, anyway, centered a little closer to neck than actual shoulder, right where one of the larger veins started to get closer to skin—and Hakuba's fear dimmed. Not shot, then, because _that_ would have been obvious in such a location. Possibly cut, considering the glass shards that window had spat out, and considering the location of the bandage… blood loss, then.

He'd already crossed the room to stand in front of Kuroba, scowling down as he tried to cover concern with suspicion. Kuroba shifted back—not favoring that shoulder nearly as much as a cut deep enough to cause that kind of shaky pallor would have warranted—and the collar of his shirt pulled askew just enough for the full size of the bandage to show.

It had been too small for his theory to be true, and then _Kudo_ had stepped up behind him, warning him back from Kuroba, and promptly ordered Kuroba to eat a bar of chocolate and drink a bottle of water, which was standard procedure after donating blood.

The implications had all fallen into a single picture, considering the fact that Kudo seemed _completely fine._

They'd dug a bloody bullet out of the wall and doused every blood-spot (and the wall and bullet) in bleach, and even with the utter destruction of evidence, Hakuba hadn't been able to protest. Not with Kudo Shinichi having been shot through the chest and _gotten back up._

He'd been moving carefully and clearly in pain on leaving the building, but on Hakuba first sighting him in the precinct, he seemed perfectly fine, if a bit irritable. His careful handling of a somewhat wobbly Kuroba implied that the idea of 'vampire' might be correct.

Especially considering the size and placement of the slap-on bandage Kuroba sported.

(Finding out that Kudo and Kuroba were significantly more connected than he'd ever imagined was something else on the 'did _not_ see that coming' list.)

Also, nothing said or done indicated that Kuroba was Kid. He did tend to hang around after heists, occasionally with Aoko and sometimes simply traversing the usual crowds (which the last one hadn't really had, with the gem's owner refusing a large audience by simply keeping the notice away from the media). While it certainly didn't mean he _wasn't,_ it may well mean that Kudo didn't know about it if he was.

How Kuroba would be able to keep something like that from _Kudo Shinichi_ was a mystery, though.

For the first time since starting to attend Ekoda High, Hakuba found himself doubting. What if Kuroba _wasn't_ Kid?

(As disgruntling as the thought was, it was safer than thinking on everything else. He didn't want to touch on the supernatural. Koizumi Akako having turned him into a _squirrel_ was more than bad enough. He didn't want to know his fellow detective was a creature of the night.)

Hakuba was relieved that he wasn't the only one to relax when Kudo and Kuroba left.

Was it bad that he, a detective, was in complete agreement with Nakamori-keibu's decision to hold up his hands and say "I know nothing"?

 _xxxx_


	7. Sun

_Because today was a good day. When I was awake, anyway._

 ** _(7)  
Sun_**

Shinichi sighed, extremely annoyed with his life in general and his propensity to trip over murders in specific. The only upside to his week was the fact that Kaito was using his new state of 'vampirism' as a reason to hang out, though he hadn't shown up just yet that day.

It _was_ amusing to watch Nakamori and the Taskforce squirm, but he hadn't seen Hakuba since the day after the heist. Haibara, of course, had heard about the new theory and saw no reason not to play along. He was kind of afraid to find out what she'd end up doing with that supplement she was working on for him—she'd been grumping about iron and electrolyte levels since the last time she'd vampired herself a new blood sample. (No matter what the police thought, _she_ was closer to a bloodsucking creature of the night than he was.)

Still, he was waiting for the proverbial other shoe to drop. Sooner or later, someone outside of Division Two was going to hear about it, and then the entire force would 'know' in _hours,_ though he rather expected most of Division One to laugh it off—at least until something 'proved' it—and, though _this_ case was solved almost as soon as it happened (crime of passion, and even as he'd picked out the evidence the murderer was confessing - apologizing, saying he hadn't meant to - leaving Shinichi only needing to confirm), the police would show up soon and… well, it had been half a week.

He had kind-of expected things to get around faster.

And—Sato's car, followed by two standard police vehicles, and if anyone would bring it up, it would be her.

Two uniforms cordoning off the scene, two more cuffing the culprit—whom Shinichi confirmed as telling the truth—and Sato leading a reluctant Takagi in his direction with a broad grin.

Shinichi sighed. He was _exhausted,_ and he could probably even spin that as 'evidence' towards his state as a vampire, seeing as how it was almost noon and they were outside in bright sunlight.

Sato wasn't unobservant, really, and Takagi was good, if sometimes a bit less than confident. Halfway to him, Takagi's reluctant expression melted into a mildly concerned frown, and Sato blinked as Takagi said something to her before glancing more sharply at Shinichi.

"Kudo-san," Takagi greeted, "Are you all right? You don't look so well."

Shinichi sighed, casting a half-glance upwards. "Just tired, Takagi-keiji. Moderate headache. It would help to get out of the sun, but…" he gestured vaguely to the scene.

Takagi twitched, just a bit. So Division One _had_ heard the rumors, but of course Takagi knew that bright light made headaches worse and would dismiss his words despite the 'ack—they were saying' impulse.

Sato blinked, then grinned, "Did you know they're saying you're a vampire over in Division Two?"

Shinichi sighed again, "Yes, I know that very well. Nakamori-keibu and I had a bit of a discussion on the matter."

"Who won?" Sato asked.

"Sato-san, I said 'discussion', not 'argument'. It was about clearing things up; I'm not angry—the rumors are mostly my own fault, anyway."

"'Your own fault'?" Takagi blinked at him, "They're saying you got _shot_ in front of Nakamori and the Taskforce at the last Kid heist!"

Shinichi frowned, "They are? Hm. I may have to have a talk with the ones who were there that night. I don't want that to get confirmed."

A long pause, "Ano, Kudo-kun?" Sato said slowly, "That… didn't sound like a denial."

Shinichi blinked, but was 'saved' having to respond by his phone buzzing. A glance at the screen had him flipping it open, "Kaito?"

 _"_ _Shin-shin! Where are you? Your little chemist has finished up your supplements and is demanding I deliver!"_

"Right now? Crime scene, park on twenty-fifth in Beika. But I'll probably be filling out paperwork at the Division One headquarters in another ten minutes." A quick glance confirmed that both Sato and Takagi weren't able to hear what was being said on Kaito's end of the line, so… "If you could bring it, it would… help."

 _"_ _Division One officers in hearing range, or actually feeling bad?"_

Shinichi let a grimace cross his face, "A bit of both, actually."

 _"_ _I see,"_ the tone went considering, _"Meet you at the precinct, then. Do you need me to bring anything else? —and I should warn you, the stuff looks and_ smells _like blood. Something about iron levels?"_

Shinichi let out breath, "Thanks. See you then."

Takagi hesitated, "Kudo-san?"

Shinichi shook his head, "Nothing. It's just—everything here is settled, or as much as I can get it. I'd like to get the paperwork out of the way as soon as possible—home sounds like a great idea right about now."

Sato opened her mouth, paused, and visibly switched what she was going to say, "We can give you a ride, Kudo-kun. I'll go tell the other officers what's going on and get whoever's bringing our perp to follow us to the precinct. Takagi-kun, get him in the car, will you?"

 _xxxx_

Kaito was going to have _so much fun._ Precinct meant 'free reign to imply all he wanted', as while police gossip spread worse than wildfire _inside_ police ranks, it tended not to get _out_ of those ranks nearly as easily, and they actually did want people believing the whole 'creature of the night' thing.

Haibara had even been nice enough to explain _why._ And mean enough to put the 'supplement' (which sounded like a liquid meal upon description, but considering Shinichi's propensity to skip meals it was probably a good idea) in all it's fake-bloody glory in a wide-mouth thermos.

The color was going to be very obvious on Shinichi's lips, and that was probably the point. So.

Kaito walked into the Beika precinct building and up to the reception desk, "Hey, looking for Kudo Shinichi?"

A blink from the uniformed man behind the counter, "Kudo-san… if he's here, he'll be the third hall that way, all the way at the end. Division One."

"Thanks," Kaito headed off in the indicated direction, deciding to get the building layout some other time. He hadn't _needed_ to go to the Beika building before, and Division One wasn't usually something he bothered with, but if he was going to be hanging out with Shinichi, he should probably start getting used to it.

Door at the end of the hall and—yep, Shinichi, having taken over an otherwise unoccupied desk and very obviously filling out paperwork. He looked a little flushed, and Kaito could work with that.

Besides which, Haibara had said that it wouldn't be surprising if he was running a light fever, and the nutrient-mix had a very mild antipyretic in it this time. Liquid would absorb quickly and he'd probably lose the flush in minutes. Faster if his weird healing factor latched on to the proteins and stopped giving his system trouble.

"Shin-shin!" Kaito called, bouncing across the room before any of the officers could do more than look up at the opening door.

Shinichi paused and very deliberately set his pen down before raising his head, "Kaito," he greeted dryly, but not without a hint of relief.

"You shouldn't leave your lunch at home," Kaito scolded, handing him the thermos.

Shinichi raised an eyebrow at him, "This is not _'lunch'_. I'm perfectly capable of eating like a normal person."

"Supplement, then, and you're looking a little singed. How long were you outside?"

"An hour, give or take," Shinichi shook his head, "Not overly pleasant, I'll admit."

Kaito paused, blinked, and turned to examine the room of officers suddenly trying to pretend interest in other things. "Not very subtle," he decided, "but you should drink that, anyway."

He glanced back just in time to see Shinichi roll his eyes, but his favorite detective unscrewed the lid and took a deep draw of the liquid therein.

Kaito kept his expression smooth as Shinichi leaned back to make drinking easier, a clearly pleased cast to his features. Which meant either he was a better actor than Kaito gave him credit for or the little scientist had managed to make it taste differently than it smelled.

Shinichi lowered the thermos—which Kaito could see was already half-emptied—and licked bloody red from his lips before raising the plastic cylinder in a saluting gesture, "Thanks for this, by the way."

Kaito grinned at him, hopping up to sit on the corner of the desk, "And you're looking better already!"

It was true, too—the mild pain-lines around the edges of his eyes were easing out and the redness of fever-flush was fading into a healthier pale.

Hm. The rest of the room was _awfully_ quiet… Kaito looked around again, "I guess it was too much to hope that little tidbit had stayed in the Taskforce, huh?"

Shinichi shrugged one shoulder, "Sato-san said they know about the whole 'shot' thing."

Kaito snorted, "Yeah, well, don't catch bullets with your lungs next time."

"You say that like I did it on _purpose._ "

"Hey, so long as I don't have to find you with a hole in your chest again. That was _terrifying._ And _creepy_."

"I'm _fine._ "

Kaito glowered, "Finish your lunch."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Yes, mother _._ "

Someone cleared their throat hesitantly, and Kaito twisted to see Takagi-keiji, whom he knew only by sight through Conan's frequent contact with the man.

"Ano, Kudo-kun? Are you _really…?_ "

Kaito smiled brightly as Shinichi tipped back the thermos again, "Oh, don't worry, he doesn't bite without invitation."

Shinichi snorted, the noise sounding like it was startled out of him, and set down the thermos to glower, a red streak on his cheek to match the color on his lips. He licked said lips clean and glared, "That was really more _coercion,_ thanks."

"Hey, you needed the boost, and it's not like there was anyone else on hand! Also, you have a little…" Kaito gestured to his own cheek.

Shinichi threw the pen at him and pulled out his handkerchief to scrub his cheek clean. "You _suck._ "

"I'm pretty sure that's you, actually," Kaito returned cheekily.

"I'm going to kick you," Shinichi informed, hand dropping briefly out of sight.

Seeing as how he was sitting on top of the steel desk, Kaito only grinned.

Shinichi kicked the inside of the desk and suddenly the side dented outwards, whacking Kaito in the back of the knees.

He jerked, yelped, and hit the floor in a sprawl, then sat up and pouted. " _Shinichi!_ That was _mean._ "

"Just be glad I only kicked the _side,_ " Shinichi snarked back, picking up the thermos to toss back the rest of the contents before screwing the lid on and pulling out a new pen. "I have paperwork to finish; stay out of trouble for a few minutes, would you?"

Kaito continued to pout up at Shinichi for several more seconds before he considered the new shape of the side of the desk, "Also, you just damaged police property."

Shinichi gave him an unimpressed glance, "If you hadn't noticed, this desk is a different design than the others in this room. I actually paid for it myself, just so I would have a reliable place to fill out paperwork."

Kaito hummed, then hopped to his feet and back onto the corner of the desk, settling in quietly—for him, anyway. Shinichi ignored him as he started flashing through card tricks, then coin tricks, then juggling. He only got a single quirked eyebrow from the detective when he switched to fire, aside from a very subtle shift backwards, but Shinichi had never been afraid of fire so—ah, right. That was pretty common with vampire myths, wasn't it?

Kaito snuffed the flame hurriedly, wincing, "Sorry, Shin-shin. I forgot."

"So long as you don't light _me_ on fire, I don't mind," Shinichi signed his name on the last line of what looked like the last page of his paperwork. "Okay, I'm finished—let's go give it to Megure-keibu. And if you cause any trouble, I'm dropping you back off with Haibara."

"Shinichi! That's mean. Couldn't you at least have it be Nakamori-keibu?" Kaito kept an eye on the reactions of the nervous police, seeing confusion, consternation, and more than a little worry.

"No," Shinichi informed blandly, gathering the paperwork and thermos. "You'd _enjoy_ being able to harass the Taskforce, and Nakamori-keibu is currently too busy to deal with your ridiculousness."

"Fine. I'll behave. But only for a while!"

 _xxxx_

 _Next up: Police reactions! (Among other things)._


	8. Blood

_I am feeling marginally better. So, my health's improvement is appreciated, and likely not just by me, as it means I can look at a screen again! Even if it_ does _have to have a black background for_ everything.

 ** _(8)  
Blood_**

There was a long moment of silence after the two teens left the Division One Homicide bullpen for Megure's office and it was Chiba who finally broke it.

"That was _not_ what I expected when I first heard those rumors."

"Was Kudo-san drinking _blood?_ " Yuminaga-keibu demanded, almost in a squeak. Takagi blinked, wondering what the man was doing in the Homicide section when he was assigned to the Arson side, as a high-ranking inspector crossing into the homicide area usually meant bad news somewhere.

Sato made a strangely disconcerted sound—Takagi hadn't heard her sound _disconcerted_ before, and, as her partner, that was saying something—"It looked like it."

Takagi sighed at the obvious unease. Yes, the _idea_ had him a little uncomfortable, but to be _afraid?_ Of _Kudo Shinichi?_ (Whom he'd been half-convinced was Conan-kun despite the obvious age difference. Those two were _eerily_ alike, even for cousins. Except that he had seen them together more than once. Maybe Conan was a younger clone?) The only people who had ever _needed_ to fear Kudo Shinichi were criminals, and even then he only got them arrested. "The color was right, and I caught a whiff of something metallic when he opened it, but… it's _Kudo-san._ "

Another pause, this one confused. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Takagi shrugged and elaborated, "I can't imagine him killing anyone, no matter the circumstances. Three weeks ago, he went into a burning building to save that serial killer who'd tried to kill _Ran-san._ "

That brought about yet another pause, as the group as a whole considered Kudo Shinichi's general extremely protective nature, especially towards Mouri Ran and Conan's friends. Takagi was half-expecting to hear about him and Ran-san starting to date any day now, although the 'vampire' thing might put a damper on that, what with how terrified Ran-san was of the supernatural. The children, he seemed more concerned about simply because they were children.

"Good point," Yuminaga conceded, remembering the moment of absolute terror for their young consultant when half the roof had come down in an explosion of sparks while the boy was still inside. He _still_ didn't know how Kudo had managed to get himself and the serial killer/arsonist out almost completely unharmed.

"So… where'd the blood come from?"

Takagi groaned, not wanting to know what that one had been thinking.

Sato spoke up, "Assuming it was human, his parents could have arranged something with a hospital or something, but it's _Kudo-kun._ He would disapprove of anything that might leave someone else in danger. It's more likely that it's animal. There are quite a few butchers who sell animal blood as a fertilizer that keeps wild herbivores out the fields."

"There are?" Chiba hummed thoughtfully, "I could use some for my aunt's garden, then. She's been having trouble with deer."

A half-raised hand from one of the junior officers, "How did we get from Kudo-san drinking blood to Chiba's aunt's garden?"

 _xxxx_

As they left the Beika precinct building, Kaito produced a baseball cap from nowhere discernible (it wasn't bent, wrinkled, or otherwise out of shape despite him not having had it visible anywhere on his body, and it also wasn't _warm,_ which couldn't have been rapidly smoothed out) and plopped it on Shinichi's head with a shake of his own head and a smile, "I know you don't really wear these, but you should probably start, at least when you're outside. Also, sunblock: it is your friend."

Shinichi sighed, but dipped his head in acknowledgement. To anyone watching—and there _would_ be watchers—it would look and sound like additional confirmation towards Shinichi's 'condition'. Shinichi caught the other message, the 'disguise is all about the details' message that he couldn't be careless and he needed to look and act the part he was not-quite-claiming to play.

Once they were safely back in the Kudo mansion, Kaito brought up a few other points. "Which stereotypes are we claiming as real, and do we have an explanation as to how you got this way or who made you this way?"

Shinichi grimaced, "Planning this out feels so _wrong._ And… two weeks ago, when I went missing. We can use that, and the fact that I 'don't remember'. The people who shot me were arrested for the murder they were planning when I stumbled on them, I can 'remember' them on sight if I can get close enough to see them—they'll probably recognize me—and not know what happened afterwards. Claim that we have no idea who made me this way, but that it happened then."

Kaito nodded thoughtfully, "A believable timeline. So—obviously, we're going with 'sun' as 'mild aversion' and 'fire' as 'a bit of distance, please'. 'Blood' as a needed set of nutrients, possibly able to be subbed with a chemically synthesized set of identical nutrients from a non-living source, but _able_ to eat normally. Healing factor is not only claimed but covered, and… what of the other common ones? Religious symbols I'm going to guess are a 'no'."

"Yeah, I'm not going to pretend to be scared of symbology."

"Wood or silver?"

"Neither, both are based in northern religious superstition. Same for garlic, although that might be because things like mosquitoes and biting flies actually don't like it."

Kaito nodded, "So, basically, just the sun, fire, and blood ones hold truth to them, as far as we're concerned. And healing. And… well, strength, considering the wall."

Shinichi tipped his head, "I'll talk to Agasa and Haibara. See if we can maintain a long-term cover."

"I'm coming with," Kaito informed. "I like to know what I'm collaborating."

"I feel like I'm trolling the entire police department," Shinichi groaned.

"You are," Kaito grinned at him, "You _totally_ are."

 _xxxx_

Haibara nodded thoughtfully as Agasa perked up with the idea of making a bracelet-and-anklet type version of the Power Shoes. It _did_ have some useful possibilities—the main one being the actual temporary enhancement to physical strength by having at least roughly fifty percent of the actual muscle fiber engaged at once instead of roughly ten percent (training could do similar things, which was how certain types of competitive weight-lifting were done, but it required concentration and prior preparation time and could not be done _easily_ ) and the other being that they could use the excuse of 'seals' or 'restraints' against accidental injuries, which would leave people _expecting_ Shinichi to mess with them before doing something outrageous.

How entertaining. That aside…

"Actually, that supplement _is,_ protein and mineral-wise, basically synthetic blood. Real blood would work, should you get injured badly and not have any of the—I think I'll call it SynthBlood, thank you for the idea—on hand during or immediately after healing. Oysters, preferably followed by chocolate, would also supply most of the necessities."

"Huh," Kuroba tilted his head in an amusingly birdlike gesture of consideration, "So… we really _could_ call Shinichi a vampire?"

Haibara thought that one over and a smirk curled her lips as Kudo eyed her warily. "You know, two hundred years ago in inland Europe, blood _would_ be the only viable means of keeping himself healthy. Yes, I do believe that we can truthfully call Kudo-kun a vampire."

Said Kudo-kun buried his face in his hands in a gesture probably left over from being Conan. " _Haibara…_ "

"Doesn't that make you feel any better, Kudo-kun?" she asked, mock innocently. "It means you aren't lying after all."

"I am _not_ a mythical creature of the night," Kudo groaned, raising his head to glare petulantly.

"Actually, the basic definition is really more 'person who must drink blood to survive', with everything else being open to interpretation and regional legend," Kuroba pointed out. "So, you know, you could just be the first genuine Tokyo vampire!"

Kudo made a strange sound, halfway between a groan and a helpless laugh, "I really shouldn't say this out loud, but… okay, _yes_ , that makes me feel marginally better. Thanks, you two."

Haibara shrugged, smirking, "Most legends of the supernatural can be traced back to either meteorological or medical origins. Whatever spawned the first tales of vampires was unlikely to have been supernatural."

"Fine, fine," Kudo dropped his hands into an accepting wave, "I'm a vampire. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," Haibara deadpanned back at him.

Kuroba just started laughing.

 _xxxx_

 _Because it's true: most legends really_ can _be traced back to something medical or meteorological. As all in certain types of healthcare know—namely, dealing with mental illness, autism, or any kind of dementia—the full moon_ does _have a noticeable effect on mood. I'm very mildly autistic and even I am high-stung, more prone to powerful emotion (especially anger) and have trouble sleeping on and near the full moon. Legends of moon-madness have a basis in medical fact, and there_ are _certain genetic disorders that can cause full-body hair growth, especially during and after puberty. It is likely that a combination of these things spawned tales of werewolves. Check Haiti's history for the original zombies. I know a girl allergic to sunlight—she rashes terribly within minutes of exposure; it starts out looking like bad sunburn and gets worse from there, and there_ are _medical issues that are aided by high iron intake—in times where iron supplements were unknown, it would have been noticeable that eating liver—or drinking blood—alleviated symptoms._

 _The list goes on._


	9. Silver

.

 ** _(9)  
Silver_**

Because those three people who knew what was _actually_ happening with Shinichi were either mad scientists, evil chemists with a penchant for pranking (or possibly evil pranksters with a penchant for chemistry), or a combination of the previous two with 'magician thief' tagged on for good measure; the bands that Agasa made to mimic the Power Shoes were not only etched with Nordic runes that literally translated to the Norse word for 'restrain' that glowed a very faint blue on one side and a non-glowing set of runes that translated to 'release' on the other, they were also thinly plated with a silver-and-white-gold alloy that Shinichi wasn't going to question the origins of too closely.

(Kaito matter-of-factly explained that if they'd used a pure silver plate, it would tarnish too easily with how many really randomly acidic things Shinichi came in contact with. Shinichi deliberately didn't point out that the reasoning still didn't explain where the metals had come from.)

He didn't groan in his exasperation, but it was a close thing. "Why Norse?" he asked after a moment, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

"At first I thought 'Russian', but it didn't seem obscure enough," Kaito rolled his shoulders, "This can be translated with enough effort, and the fact that it's so unused these days—even in Europe—makes it more believable. Especially since the vampire myths _are_ from northern Europe originally; there's no real documented date or location, so they could conceivably be semi-Nordic in origin and it's old enough that people won't be able to find anything concrete no matter how hard they look."

"Anyway, Shinichi," Agasa broke in, holding up one of the bracelets, "The 'restrain' symbols will be lit up whenever the Seals are inactive."

Shinichi had to raise an eyebrow, "'Seals'?" It wasn't Agasa's usual style of naming.

"If we want them to have that association, Kudo-kun," Haibara pointed out dryly, "it is easiest to refer to them as such, regardless of their actual purpose."

Shinichi acknowledged the point, but was still reasonably sure that either Haibara or Kaito had named them.

Agasa coughed, "Right. Well, the 'release' has a two-point activation. Depress the first and last runes to activate the bracelet, then the circle covering the clasp is the power gauge—it works the same way as the shoes. The ankle cuffs are a little bigger, and work exactly the same way as the shoes, without the buttons."

Shinichi nodded, understanding the reasoning. It was a lot easier to accidentally catch a rotating part with a wrist than an ankle, considering how people relied on _hands_. "Will movement be a problem?"

"Not when they're finished," Agasa held up a thick cloth padding, "I want you to try them on so we can adjust the hinge joint. The generators are small enough that there's plenty of space for adjustment as needed, and the padding will keep them from shifting as well as keep them from chafing."

Forty minutes later, Shinichi had bands of rune-etched silver on his wrists and ankles. He examined them closely, "Will _water_ be a problem?"

"The generators and wiring are completely waterproofed," Agasa assured, "However, the electricity that passes through to you will be disrupted by water, so it's unlikely they will actually work if you're _in_ water, though just wet should be fine."

"We should probably test that," Kaito murmured. "Rain is one thing—pure or near-pure water doesn't actually conduct well, if at all—but salt water or water with a high mineral content definitely does. It would be good to learn for sure how they'll react in a controlled situation."

"Good point," Shinichi frowned down at the bands, "What is this cloth made of, anyway?"

"Cotton and a conductive synthetic Ai-kun made so it won't keep the bands from working."

"Thanks," the detective eyed the metal a moment longer, "All of you."

Kaito grinned and Haibara gave a vague acknowledgement as she left the room. Five minutes later, Shinichi and Agasa were into full testing-mode, with Kaito essentially cheering from the proverbial sidelines.

 _xxxx_

"I hate you, Haibara," Kudo informed two days later, examining what the chemist had done to his top canines.

"Of course you do," she replied patronizingly, ignoring how Kuroba had popped up behind the counter at the detective's declaration. She hadn't realized he was in the Kudo manor already, and it was even odds on whether _Kudo_ had known. She'd noticed the magician's habit of letting himself in.

Really, though, she thought she'd done quite well. The modifications were made of a calcium phosphate compound that was almost identical to actual tooth enamel, and they were very subtle. Kudo wasn't even _lisping._

After all, she fully intended to draw out the development of his 'fangs' over the next two months, and she didn't want them to interfere with Kudo's abilities to chew or speak. He'd protested the idea— _vehemently_ —but between her and Kuroba, he had eventually given in.

"Besides," she dismissed, "You can barely see a difference."

Kudo scowled at her, "I can _feel_ a difference."

"You'll get used to it. Now, don't you have packing to do?" She expected he did, considering the Osakan detective's invitation to visit shortly after his little 'missing for two days' stint and Kudo's propensity to put off packing until the last minute. (Hattori hadn't been told what had happened, and the idiot was equal parts overprotective friend and additional cause of trouble. Haibara was a little sorry she was going to miss the show.)

"We're both packed already, Ojou-san," Kuroba informed cheerily.

Clearly that was entirely Kuroba's own doing. "Oh? You're going, too?"

" _Someone_ needs to make sure he takes care of himself," Kuroba pointed out reasonably. "Thinking of which, I _do,_ in fact, value my blood, so if you could provide enough of the supplement for three days…?"

Haibara paused to evaluate the magician more thoughtfully. It seemed she had a genuine partner in seeing to Kudo's health with the magician-thief around. She ignored Kudo's half-hearted protest that he could look after himself and nodded to Kuroba, "Of course, Kuroba-san. I actually made a powder base, as the liquid goes bad fairly quickly, even refrigerated," she passed over two thick packets, "This is enough for a week and a half of normal life, and the instructions are on the backs. He has a tendency to get into more trouble than usual if that Osakan is near him, so I want you to have extra on hand in case he gets hurt."

"I don't get into _that_ much trouble," Kudo grumped. (Haibara wondered if he'd had his luck his whole life. It might have warped his perspective.)

" _Please_ , Meitantei," Kuroba huffed, "You get into more trouble than _I_ do. And I've had a mad scientist try to replace me with a violent robotic clone."

That sounded like an interesting story. Too bad there wasn't enough time to hear it. "You'll have to tell me about that when you get back," Haibara decided aloud. "Meanwhile… you two had best get going. Kuroba-san, take care of Kudo-kun. Kudo-kun, do try not to let that hotheaded Osakan drag you into anything ridiculous," she paused for a brief moment to nod to Kuroba's 'Yes, ma'am'. "Now, then, you two have a train to catch."

Kudo nodded to her as she split off from them to go back to check up on the Hakase, "Thanks for all this, Haibara."

She couldn't help but smile back, because she knew what he meant and because this was what she'd wanted, when she'd been held and forced to work on deadly poisons for her sister's life. More than anything, then, she'd wanted to be able to _help_ instead of harm.

Now she was, and she was getting to help prank a good portion of the Japanese law enforcement, too.

 _xxxx_

"You know," Kaito observed quietly, eying how Shinichi was leaning back with his eyes closed, "You're a lot calmer than I expected you to be for this trip, considering the train."

It took a moment for the implication to click. "I've been party to several incidents on trains," Shinichi allowed, "but, comparatively speaking, not many."

"I've looked at your police files," Kaito informed. "At least three of the trains you've been involved with _somehow_ have _exploded,_ and that's only a fraction of the issues you've had with transportation."

"That's true," Shinichi agreed. "But that's really less than one in twenty of the cases I stumble over, and not even a very high percentage of the bombs."

"Your life is a crime drama," Kaito told him.

Shinichi only gave a half-hearted grunt of acknowledgement. "Wake me if there's some kind of emergency. Otherwise, _goodnight._ "

Kaito pouted for a moment, considered the encroaching boredom against his current company, and decided a nap wasn't a bad idea. _He_ wasn't going to be the one to interrupt Shinichi's sleep with anything loud or annoying. A sleep-deprived Shinichi somehow contrived to be scarier than a mop-wielding Aoko.

He could wait until Osaka for his entertainment. Convincing the Osakan police department and Tantei-han that Shinichi was a vampire promised to be at least as much fun as trolling the Taskforce.

 _xxxx_


	10. Mist

.

 ** _(10)  
Mist_**

Kaito woke first and debated the merits of waking Shinichi. It had been a few hours, after all, and the little chemist had pointed out that the detective needed to eat frequently if he didn't want his system kicking up a fuss. SynthBlood aside, Shinichi did need actual food. It had been carefully pointed out that the 'blood' _was_ a supplement _._ It provided proteins and needed minerals (iron especially), but it wasn't high in energy-giving carbohydrates and had almost nothing in the way of fats.

Kaito had packed them bento, and as much as Shinichi might be a grouch about being woken and apparently hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before (Haibara had said nightmares, and Kaito hadn't missed the weariness that the detective tended to show during the day), he _did_ need to eat.

"Oi, Shin-shin," Kaito reached over to shake a shoulder gently, "Come on. We're halfway there. Time to eat."

The grumble was incoherently grumpy, but Shinichi didn't kick him so he counted that a partial success. "Come on, Shinichi. Your little doctor wants me to make sure you follow orders, remember?"

Another grumble, but Shinichi grudgingly opened his eyes and sat up, running a hand through his hair in a way that somehow managed to get it to fall back into place in its unnatural tidiness. There was no way that hair should fall into _order._ It went against the laws of thermodynamics!

"Here," Kaito passed over a bento and a set of chopsticks, deciding not to comment on the physics-defying hair.

"Thanks," Shinichi yawned, then pulled out the chopsticks and popped off the lid of the bento. Two bites in, he tilted his head in consideration, "Did you make this?"

Kaito grinned, "Yup! How'd you know?"

Shinichi plucked a bit of chicken out of its nest of vegetables. "Not Haibara's style. Good, though."

Kaito sat back, pleased. "Why, thank you!"

"Is there anything you _aren't_ good at?" Shinichi asked, sounding genuinely curious.

"Ice skating," Kaito replied.

Shinichi blinked at him, clearly surprised. "Really? With your sense of balance, that seems a little… odd."

"I know, right?" Kaito huffed, waving a slice of carrot with his chopsticks, "It deserts me on ice, even if the ice isn't _slippery._ "

"Huh," Shinichi considered that. "I could teach you, I guess. I mean, that could turn out to be dangerous, someday. Actually, so could the phobia, but… not sure what to do about that one."

Kaito shrugged, "Believe it or not, the phobia is… not that bad. I can hold it together for a little while, if I have a reason to. Or forewarning."

Shinichi hummed thoughtfully, "Good. Still, I'm pretty sure there's an indoor ice-rink somewhere in Osaka. I can ask Hattori about it tomorrow, if you want."

Kaito thought it over. On the one hand, it would give Tantei-han teasing material. On the other, he might actually learn at least how to balance. And there was no chance of running into anyone else he knew, as all the rest of them were still in Tokyo.

"Okay, yeah, that's a good idea," he conceded. "I can't say I think it'll be _fun,_ but it is a good idea."

Shinichi nodded and set about finishing his bento.

"You going back to sleep?" Kaito asked as he packed the boxes away.

"No," Shinichi rolled his shoulders. "We're only a couple hours out, and I should at least _try_ to sleep tonight."

"You have been having trouble sleeping, then?" Kaito frowned at the confirmation. He hadn't thought Shinichi would admit it, which probably meant it was pretty bad.

Shinichi sighed, "Yeah. It's not—I think… I think it's because I'm not used to the quiet, anymore. I keep waking up thinking that something's wrong."

That would explain why he'd slept easier when Kaito had been in the room shuffling through cards. Background noise of a non-threatening and live-person nature.

He'd have to mention it to Haibara. As Shinichi's de-facto doctor, she should know about things like that. Out loud, he only hummed thoughtfully as he pulled out a deck of cards.

(He was gratified that Shinichi just watched as he flicked through the cards, replacing them with flowers and coins and occasionally doves, instead of breaking down his tricks. Shinichi didn't even scold him for bringing the doves!)

 _xxxx_

Two hours later, Shinichi slung both his and Kaito's duffels over his shoulder and glanced around the station, quickly spotting Hattori over by the exit. A quick glance had Kaito bouncing over to follow after him and they made their way over towards the Osakan detective.

"Hattori!" Shinichi called, getting the other male's attention just as Kaito pointedly dropped a ball-cap on Shinichi's head. Shinichi huffed while Hattori gaped at them, turning his attention to Kaito for a moment. "Mother hen," he accused.

Kaito waved dismissively, "Only because you don't take care of yourself."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, returning his attention to Hattori, "Hattori, this is Kuroba Kaito. Kaito, Hattori Heiji— _no_ traumatizing him. I know your acquaintance with Hakuba has colored your opinion on detectives as a whole, but Hattori's my friend and you don't get to break him."

"Eh, Kudo?" Hattori ventured cautiously before hesitating, clearly not sure what to say.

Kaito sighed, "Fine. I'll play nice. But we need to get you somewhere quiet, Shin-shin. You haven't had your meds in… did you have any this morning, even?"

Shinichi glanced down at his hands, noting the very fine tremor. "…I don't think I did."

Hattori straightened up in clear alarm, "Meds? Is there somethin' wrong with ya, Kudo?"

"Not… _wrong,_ exactly," Shinichi hedged. "I just… have a few requirements that I didn't before the whole…" he gestured vaguely, "…thing."

"'kay," Hattori frowned, "I'll call a cab. We can get ya both to my place an' figure it out from there."

Shinichi nodded, "Thanks, Hattori," he murmured.

The Osakan gave an acknowledging wave, already pulling out his phone.

 _xxxx_

"Liquid?" Heiji asked as Kuroba handed Kudo a large mug—the largest they had, at that, a liter-sized plastic monstrosity that had been a gag gift to his father—after disappearing into the kitchen with a silvery packet.

Kudo was already drinking, but Kuroba took it upon himself to respond. "I said 'meds' because it seemed the best way to get the actual seriousness of the situation across, but it's really more a very… _specific_ nutritional requirement that he unfortunately needs a fair amount of. As I have no desire to deal with Shinichi going into starvation-mode, he's getting fed _now_."

Heiji paused. That sounded… he wasn't sure, except ' _odd_ '. The wording was carefully _not_ saying something, but he wasn't sure what was being talked around.

Then Kudo lowered the mug and Heiji saw a very, _very_ distinctive color on his lips.

"Kudo, what are ya drinkin'?" It had better not be what it looked like.

"Haibara calls it SynthBlood," Kudo licked the red from his lips and continued, "She said that's basically what it _is._ The chemical breakdown is the same as blood, though the structure isn't. It doesn't have any actual cells in it."

"… _Why_ are ya drinkin' fake blood?"

"Because I'd rather not have to drink real blood."

Erk. "An' why would ya have to drink real blood?" Heiji asked, not really sure he wanted to know.

Kudo raised an eyebrow sardonically, "You know, after how easily you caught on to me having essentially _regressed in age,_ I expected you to be quicker on the uptake than this."

Kuroba had said ' _specific_ nutritional requirement' and something about starvation mode, and Kudo was talking around the same subject a lot less obscurely, considering the mug of not-blood that he was raising back to his lips, needing both hands to steady the oversized thing. And.. well, yeah, okay, so Conan was one thing, but… "… Vampires don't exist, Kudo."

"You know," Kuroba said conversationally, "that's what _I_ thought. And then he went and got himself _shot_ at a Kid heist and I found him stumbling his way home with a hole through his lung. A good 'meal' and a night of sleep and he was fine in the morning."

Heiji had heard rumors about some vampire detective in Tokyo running though the traffic department, but he hadn't paid them any mind. This… nope. They _had_ to be pranking him.

Kudo lowered the mug again, rolling his eyes. "Hold this," he said, thrusting the mug into Heiji's own hands.

Heiji barely managed to get a solid grip before Kudo disappeared into the kitchen and it took him a moment to convince himself to sniff the liquid. It looked like blood, but that couldn't be _that_ hard for the little chemist to fake, but—damn. It _smelled_ like blood, too. No way was he going to _taste_ it.

Kudo came back with a knife and Kuroba squawked in indignant alarm. "Shinichi!"

Kudo rolled his eyes, "Relax, Kaito, I'm not going to be stupid about it." A quick motion had Heiji echoing the squawk and nearly dropping the mug, but Kuroba managed to snatch it away.

Kudo had just sliced open the back of his arm! Granted, it was obvious that the cut wasn't even all the way through skin (people didn't realize how thick most skin actually happened to be), but it was deep enough to spill a line of blood, though less than Heiji would have expected. A moment passed, then Kudo matter-of-factly wiped the blood (already not bleeding more) off his arm with his handkerchief, then presented the limb to Heiji as Kuroba stepped back.

Numbly, Heiji ran a thumb over the location of the former injury, the thin scar visibly fading as he watched. "Okay. So. Vampire," Heiji swallowed, "Wha' exactly does tha' mean?"

 _xxxx_


	11. Shadows

.

 ** _(11)  
Shadows_**

Hattori had taken it reasonably well, all things considered. They were trolling him as much as the police force, after all, as Haibara had dryly pointed out that Hattori was _painfully_ honest and thus incapable of keeping a secret. It was a miracle that no one had caught on from how often he'd called Shinichi-as-Conan by the name he couldn't safely use.

Thus the 'no talky' rule, as Kaito called it. As far as Hattori was concerned, Shinichi was a bona fide vampire (which he was, kind of, on the simplest interpretation). There was to be no mention of how he'd gotten that way, which meant Hattori still thought Shinichi was missing a few days' worth of memory.

That part, he didn't take so well.

"Kudo… that kind a' memory loss ain't like ya," he pointed out. "Ya didn't even block out get'n _shrunk._ What could make _ya_ forget somethin'?"

Kaito apparently decided to field that one before Shinichi could come up with a better response than a discomfited grimace. "Hattori-san… every story I've ever heard has painted vampires as dead-and-back. Even the ones where they have heartbeats—which Shinichi _does,_ thankfully—the legends say that they had to die and then be dragged back out of the afterlife. I don't know about you, but I think that sounds pretty traumatic."

Shinichi's grimace deepened. That _did_ sound traumatic, and now _he_ was disturbed by the idea. The careful-toned comment had stopped Hattori cold, too, and the Osakan's expression twisted in something between alarm and worry.

"Right," Hattori managed after a moment, shifting uncomfortably. "That… makes sense. Sorry, Kudo, shouldn't'a asked."

Shinichi shrugged, looking away. After a moment, he shook himself and glanced back at his Osakan friend, "Changing the subject, is there an ice-rink anywhere nearby?"

"Ice-rink?" Hattori blinked at him, clearly derailed from the 'undead by force' train of thought. "Yeah, there's one. Why? Ya wanna go?"

Shinichi gave a wan smile, "I would, yes. Kaito…"

Hattori followed Shinichi's glance to Kaito's disgruntled expression. "I can't skate," the magician informed Hattori, ignoring Shinichi entirely. "Shin-shin said he'd teach me, and I _did_ agree earlier, but this is going to be _humiliating._ "

Hattori only looked a bit confused, "Only if ya let it be, ahou. Kudo won't make fun of ya for not knowin' how ta do somethin', an' neither will I."

Kaito paused, considering Hattori for several seconds. Then he grinned.

Shinichi wasn't sure whether it was a good grin or a bad grin, but he had a moment of wondering if Hattori was going to still have black hair in the morning. Then he shook it off—Hattori was a bit… _intense,_ sometimes, and more than a bit brash, but he was a good guy and really _wouldn't_ make fun of Kaito's skating. He was probably safe from any individually-directed pranks.

"Thanks, Hattori-san!" Kaito's grin softened a bit, "That makes me feel a bit better. Shall we?"

"Yeah, sure," Hattori paused, "Well, once Kudo's finished?"

Kaito blinked and looked down at the giant mug he was still holding. "Oh, whoops—sorry, Shin-shin."

Shinichi rolled his eyes and took the mug back. He was just glad Kaito hadn't filled the thing. It had only been about a third full when he'd gotten it, and there was only about a third of _that_ left. He chugged the remainder and dodged into the kitchen to rinse it out, not wanting to find out what Hattori's mother would do if she came home and saw something that looked like a bloody mug without an explanation.

Two minutes later, they were heading out the door. Another forty and they were walking into an indoor ice-rink, some with more enthusiasm than others.

 _xxxx_

"It wasn't that bad, was it, Kaito?" Shinichi asked that evening as Kaito inspected a colorful patch on his forearm, sounding a little concerned.

Kaito considered. Yeah, he had a few bruises—most to his pride—but… well. "I guess not," he agreed, thinking of how Shinichi had steadied him over and over, showed him how to place his skate-clad feet and _glide_ instead of _walk_ (which had been where he'd been repeatedly going wrong, apparently, trying to treat ice like earth when it was water), and how even Tantei-han had offered tips without teasing. In the end, he was no pro-level skater, but he could start, stop, and turn without wrecking, and he could always practice until he got to a satisfactory level of ability. "It was… nice."

Shinichi smiled hesitantly and Kaito couldn't help but smile back. "We should do it again!"

That was apparently enough to settle whatever concerns his favorite detective had, because Shinichi relaxed and his smile turned more genuine. "Probably not here, though," he temporized, "I'm sure Hattori has places he wants to show me, and he's pretty happy to expound on the glories of Osaka to anyone he can drag along."

Kaito waved dismissively, "Eh, standard Osakan pride. If he wants to lead a tour, that's fine with me!"

Shinichi grinned, "You might regret saying that."

"Nonsense!" Kaito gave his own grin, "A tour from a native? All I need to do is mention my love of high views and I'll have a great map of how to glide Osaka!"

Shinichi made a sound between a laugh and a groan, covering his eyes with one hand, "Oh, gods, I'm _abetting_ , now."

Kaito's grin only grew.

 _xxxx_

The next day went peacefully enough, up until a murder outside one of the train stations as they were heading back to the Hattori estate. It hadn't been planned, an obvious crime-of-passion with witnesses, which made it quickly dealt with, but the darkening sky had Shinichi noticing something that he really should have thought of earlier. The bands on his wrists and ankles glowed softly, which wasn't even visible in the light, but if he ever had to stay out of sight in the _dark…_

He shook his head, stepping back to let Hattori explain the situation to the police, and tilted his head at a clearly upset Kaito.

Well. 'Clearly' being a relative term. The need to contact the Hakase and Haibara for an alternative would at least provide a distraction, so…

"Kaito?"

As the magician focused on him, he shifted his sleeve up just enough for the blue glow to catch Kaito's eye, and the way Kaito's focus zeroed in on the problem was confirmation that the murder had really upset him.

Shinichi decided to talk to him about it when they were back in the relative privacy of the Hattori guest room they were sharing. Meanwhile, though, the distraction would have to serve. "Could you call Haibara while I help Hattori deal with this? Maybe for a color-change effect instead of luminescence? I'm pretty sure it's an electro-chemical reaction."

Kaito nodded, "Yeah, you don't need to be a blue firefly."

… _Definitely_ needed to talk. Shinichi hated the murders, but they were so _routine_ that it wasn't hard to separate them out from the rest of his life, anymore. He'd had far too much practice at separating out his work from everything else—he _had_ to, or he'd lose his mind. He _couldn't_ think of all the death as part of his life; there was too much of it for that. He knew how to compartmentalize… and, if Kaito was going to be sticking around, he'd have to learn how to do something similar.

Kaito wasn't a detective. He hadn't signed up for death—well, neither had Shinichi, exactly, but Kaito had chosen to follow a profession-set that really was meant to entertain and bring happiness. While Shinichi hadn't asked to stumble over death everywhere he went, he _had_ chosen to be a detective, to track down the killers and get justice for the victims.

He pushed away the thought that Kaito might be better off staying away from him. They'd talk. If Kaito made that decision, then… well, Shinichi would deal with it if it came. But it was Kaito's decision to make, and Shinichi had to trust him to know if he needed to make it. He wasn't going to be the one to walk away, not this time.

But he wouldn't hold on, if Kaito was the one to leave.

 _xxxx_


	12. Gloaming

_For those unfamiliar with the word, 'gloaming' refers to the twilight hours, where you are just able to see some stars but it's not full dark and the sky is shades of blue and purple. (As you may guess, that's not a dictionary definition. Dictionaries are horribly lacking in proper imagery.)  
_

 ** _(12)  
Gloaming_**

"Hey."

Kaito looked up, noting the odd tone to Shinichi's voice and blinking himself out of his thoughts.

"You okay?"

He considered. The tone wasn't one he felt he could just dismiss—Shinichi sounded… _off._ And… "I think so," he decided on. He was a little shaken, less because of the murder (though that _had_ been bad) than because of the tired, resigned, _routine_ manner in which Shinichi had immediately sighed before switching over entirely into a terrifying laser-focus that had the perpetrator stuttering out a confession just from the weight of Shinichi's gaze.

Aside from the first instant (not even a whole second) after the screaming started, Shinichi had looked calm, intent… and _undisturbed_. Kaito hadn't been able to keep from blanching at the blood and even the Osakan had hesitated for an instant, but Shinichi hadn't batted an eye.

After the confession, he'd glanced around the scene as though confirming the truth of the man's words (the blood on hands and clothes apparently hadn't been confirmation enough, though Kaito didn't know why), then handed everything he'd found to Hattori and moved over to Kaito. He hadn't seemed upset.

Someone had just died, and he hadn't seemed upset or even _surprised._

Shinichi was a detective—more than that, one that generally dealt in homicide—so the lack of upset was somewhat understandable. He'd probably seen much worse.

The lack of surprise _,_ on the other hand… _that_ was concerning.

Kaito had heard stories about his favorite detective being a case-(corpse)-magnet, but he hadn't really _understood._ Hadn't thought about the cases Shinichi-as-Conan had run across when he-as-Kid had been nearby or the number of files that he'd found with Shinichi's name on them or even the call earlier that week where Shinichi'd answered at a crime scene. Now, though… "How often does that happen?"

Shinichi stilled for a moment, looking like he was readying himself for something, and answered in a too-level voice. "At least twice a week; sometimes as often as more than once a day."

Kaito rocked back, shocked. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but it hadn't been that. _Crime drama_ detectives didn't get that many incidental murders—mostly they were called to scenes. So—suddenly the long-standing rumors of Edogawa Conan having been stalked by a Shinigami 'like his cousin' made sense.

Shinichi closed his eyes, expression twisting into something resigned, and suddenly it clicked.

"Shinichi… I'm not—you shouldn't have to face that by yourself!" Because that's what that look meant, right? That Shinichi thought he was going to leave?

The resignation shattered into surprise, and Shinichi blinked at him, "You _hate_ people getting hurt!"

"I do," Kaito assented, as he really couldn't do anything else. "But… I'm not going to abandon you for this. It's not like it's your fault. I mean… you don't _ask_ for this, right? So…"

Shinichi swallowed, head bowing in a weighty sort of relief. "Thank you," he managed, "but I wouldn't hold it against you, if you wanted to stay out of it."

Kaito frowned, "I'm no detective," he agreed, "So I will probably be staying out of it, mostly. I mean, when that happens, I'll just—go stand in a corner or something. If you need me to help with anything, though—I don't want to see a killer walk away, either, you know."

Shinichi made a strange sound, a cross between a relieved laugh and something like a sob, and Kaito _froze._ That—how long had he been left to deal with that kind of thing on his own? How bad _was_ it?

A second passed before Kaito shook himself out of his shock ( _Shinichi_ sounded about to _cry_ ) and took the three steps to grab his detective by the upper arms, alarmed.

Shinichi folded forward and Kaito couldn't do anything but catch him in an awkward sort of hug, sinking to the ground when Shinichi's legs went out from under him, and then he realized something that actually made it a less of a panic-inducing situation and more of a deeply concerning one.

Shinichi was _hot_. Feverish. His little chemist-doctor had mentioned intermittent immune lapses as a happening, though she had also said that they were getting shorter and further between, and had given him an additive for his supplements to stabilize him should one of them occur—but he didn't want to leave Shinichi alone like that, not while he was clearly emotionally unstable even though it wasn't an emotion-based collapse. (The fever couldn't be helping.)

He picked Shinichi's pocket, fishing out a familiar phone and promptly scrolling through to Hattori Heiji's number and hitting 'send'.

It was a very puzzled voice that answered, "Kudo? Aren't ya still in my house?"

"Hattori-san," Kaito said tersely, "I need that giant mug back with at least a third of a liter of warm water in it, _now._ Bring something to stir."

 _xxxx_

Heiji just about dropped his bokken, startled by both the voice and the tone, then _did_ drop his bokken when the words registered. Kuroba didn't seem the type to ask for someone else to run menial in-the-house errands for him when he could make a production out of doing it himself, and the request itself had alarm bells going off in Heiji's head.

He didn't bother to pick up the bokken or change out of his training outfit, instead just running out of the dojo to the main house and brushing past his startled mother in his haste to get to the kitchen.

"Heiji, what—?"

"Na' now, Okaa-han," he didn't even slow, snagging the giant mug from the drain-board and filling the bottom third with warm water before grabbing a long-handled metal spoon and darting down the hall to the guest room, his confused mother trailing after him.

He didn't knock, sliding the door open and stopping dead for a second at what he saw. Kuroba was on his knees, Kudo pale and mostly slack in his hold, a fine tremor shaking his fellow detective's frame as his forehead glistened with sweat.

Kuroba didn't look up, expression oddly unreadable, "My backpack, one of the silver packets and one of the small red ones. Mix them both in."

He didn't question, scrambling to do as he was told, and he heard his mother give an alarmed gasp in the doorway.

"Oh, Kudo-han! Shou' I call a' ambulance?"

"No," Kuroba's voice was calm. Level. _Intent._ "We have what we need to deal with this."

Heiji finished mixing the powders into the water, ending up with that not-blood in the mug again, and (not sure what else to do with it) slid the red-wet end of the spoon into the empty silver packet before going to crouch down next to Kudo and Kuroba.

Kuroba nodded, reaching one hand out to take the mug and set it aside, "Help me sit him up, then keep him steady."

Heiji just did as he was told, then watched in disturbed fascination as Kuroba coaxed Kudo into drinking. A few seconds passed, then Kudo blinked his eyes open, one hand flexing against the wood floor beside Heiji's knee while the other moved to grip Kuroba's thigh for a few seconds as he stiffened, then relaxed back and reached up to take hold of the mug, tipping his head back to drink more deeply as the tremor eased out.

After another few minutes (during which Kudo steadied entirely but ended up looking exhausted and didn't protest when Kuroba helped him over to the bed and sat them both down), Heiji's mother finally asked, "What was tha'?"

"Sorry," Kudo murmured tiredly as Heiji manfully refrained from pacing the room. "My system hasn't completely settled yet. Sometimes that still happens, but it's less often, now. The compound in the red packets acts as a forceful stabilizer, more-or-less. Means I don't have to wait it out."

Well. Okay. That—made more sense than it didn't, actually. Whatever happened to Kudo's body to get him to jump sizes had to be bad enough; but to be killed, resurrected, and then whatever it was that had him healing so damn fast (and the new dietary requirements), it made sense that his body wouldn't be stable for a while.

Heiji glanced at his concerned mother—who was looking at the abandoned mug and the red smear inside it with a hint of uncertainty—and frowned. "Okaa-han, it's under control. It's just… they're still getting him stable, but it's not life-threatening. Most of the time, he's fine."

Kuroba cast him a grateful glance as Kudo slumped against his side, eyes closing.

 _Kudo_ was _leaning_ on Kuroba. Hell, he was practically _sleeping_ on Kuroba! The heck? It had taken Heiji _months_ to get mini-Kudo to accept his help for things, and this was full-sized Kudo just tipping over and taking a nap on the new guy?

Was this something to do with the vampire thing or was the new guy not so new?

Kuroba was frowning at the top of Kudo's head, though, so that might not be normal behavior.

"I think we should put him to bed," Kuroba sounded a little concerned. "His doctor told me how to deal with this kind of thing, but neither of them mentioned how _tired_ it made him…"

Kudo didn't respond, and Heiji had to agree with the 'bed' assessment. Maybe he'd get the chance to talk to Kuroba one-on-one after.

 _x_

"So, who are ya?" Heiji asked when he and Kuroba were in the living room while Kudo napped.

The look he got was very odd, and he realized how that had sounded. "I know Kudo introduced ya," he waved off said look, "but tha's just yer _name._ How do ya know Kudo? How _long_ have ya known Kudo?"

Kuroba tilted his head back, frowning in apparent consideration. "I think I first met him when we were… four or five? I don't remember, exactly."

Heiji blinked. Okay. New guy, not so new.

"Oyaji was his godfather," Kuroba continued, something in his voice going wistful. "His dad's mine, but… well, his dad doesn't really stay with _him_ , I suppose I can't really expect much, there. We haven't seen each other until recently since we were eight, though. I mean, I ran into 'Conan-kun' a few times, but it was too dangerous to make it clear I recognized him, so…"

Okay. Kuroba had known about Conan and… stayed away? "I don' get it," Heiji said finally. How could he stay away from a friend?

He look he got was distinctly exasperated, "You're… _honest,_ Hattori-san," Kuroba told him dryly. "Honest and bright and _completely_ incapable of keeping a secret, considering the complaints Conan-kun had about your naming habits. But… I could see him, if I was careful and went in disguise. If I had gone as _me,_ looking so much like Shinichi and a known link to Shinichi's childhood and family… if we had been lucky, they would have thought _I_ was Shinichi. Not so lucky, and they would have made a connection between him, me, and everyone else he cared about and started taking hostages until he revealed himself. It was not _safe._ "

Well, when the guy put it like _that…_ "Tha' didn' seem like so much a problem wit' me," he pointed out after a moment.

Kuroba rolled his eyes, "You hadn't met him before—in fact, you met Conan _first_. You were an afterthought, not an old, traceable tie." A slight pause, "No offense. He does see you as a dear friend, but as far as the Organization goes… well, Vermouth knew _both_ our families. It wouldn't have been hard to figure out—Gin was no fool."

Heiji frowned, "Ya know a lot abou' tha'."

Kuroba sighed, rubbed a hand over his face. "Like I said, Hattori-san," he murmured, old grief in his voice, "Vermouth knew _both_ our families. My father knew something about them, was looking for proof… and they traced her back to him. Kaa-san told the Kudos to stay away after that, and just… It _broke_ her. I didn't find out anything until a year before 'Conan', and by then I had all but forgotten Shinichi. If I had realized my friend Shin-shin was Meitantei Kudo Shinichi, I might have asked for his help, but… Well. Now's a little late for that. He already took care of most of it."

And that explained… just about everything. Including why the two were so close even though Heiji had never seen or heard of Kuroba before. He nodded. "It'll still be a while before dinner," he informed, "an' I never cleaned up the dojo. I outta go do tha'—ya all righ' on yer own?"

Kuroba nodded, "I'm fine. I'll go raid Shin-shin's books or something."

Heiji nodded and got up, not sure what else to say. Kuroba hadn't _said_ it, but… it was clear that Kudo's Organization had killed the guy's dad. That—he hadn't meant to stomp his way into painful memories, but… well, Kuroba didn't seem mad, at any rate. Still though… "Kuroba? I'm sorry."

He got a smile for that, "You didn't mean any harm," Kuroba told him. "You just want to look out for Shinichi, right? With his luck, _someone_ needs to, and I'm sure Haibara will be just as happy for the backup."

Left unsaid was how much _Kuroba_ was looking after Kudo, but that was all right. It was obvious anyway. Heiji could live with that—it meant they were on the same side, after all.

 _xxxx_


	13. Wrangle

_Chapter, here, have! Lucid Dreams is up next, should all go well._

 ** _(13)  
Wrangle_**

Shinichi blinked awake slowly, trying to puzzle out what had happened. He'd been talking to Kaito, and he remembered a moment of hazy relief before everything fuzzed and then went almost entirely blank. A moment's awareness, answering a question—but he couldn't remember who had asked or what had been asked or even what he'd answered.

Another immune crash, probably. Haibara had told him he was 'weird' and almost left it at that, but eventually elaborated with an explanation that his immune system seemed to just shut itself off and that he probably shouldn't stress himself out, because that seemed to be a partial trigger. She'd worked out a chemical jump-start and been pleased when it had worked, and more pleased when the lapses came noticeably shorter and further between. He hadn't had one since before getting shot at the heist—he'd been kind of hoping they'd stopped entirely.

He sighed, pushing himself upright with a grimace. Apparently they hadn't.

The door slid open and he didn't even have time to glance up (the overall silence aside from the door had him already aware of the visitor, but it was the principal of the thing) before Kaito said, very darkly, " _You._ "

Shinichi blinked and met Kaito's gaze only briefly before getting nervous. "… What did I do?"

"You just _fell over!_ " Kaito glowered at him, "Just—tipped forward and passed out! You had a ridiculous fever, too, and if the little Nee-san hadn't warned me about this, I would have had a _heart attack._ Why didn't you _say_ you were feeling bad?"

Shinichi sighed, understanding the reason for the not-quite-anger but not really sure what to do about it. "I wasn't, really. I mean, I was _tired_ , but… I have yet to actually see one of the attacks coming. One moment, I'm fine, and then everything just… fuzzes out." He paused, "What happened, anyway? I remember being—relieved, at something you said, but I don't remember what, and everything's just… _static…_ after that."

Kaito drew up short, blinking in surprise. "… I said I wasn't leaving and you collapsed. Tantei-han and I got your meds in you while Hattori-san fretted in the doorway. You seemed coherent, after that, if tired—you explained that your system hasn't 'settled' yet and that your doctor had provided a stabilizer, and then you fell asleep on my shoulder. Hattori has a fun jealous face."

Oh, gods. Shinichi did _not_ want to know.

"Anyway," Kaito continued without paying any attention to Shinichi's willful ignoring of the 'jealous face' comment, "Dinner's almost ready. You should get cleaned up; seeing you upright would probably make all the Hattoris happy, as Tantei-han's mom told his dad you weren't feeling well."

Shinichi sighed and rolled to his feet, grimacing at a moment's vertigo, but it passed quickly. "Sorry I worried you," he said after a moment.

Kaito waved dismissively, "Forgiven. Now that I know you weren't just being quiet when you shouldn't have, I'm not annoyed with you. The _situation,_ yes, but not you."

Well. That was mostly a relief. Kaito annoyed was generally bad, from what he'd seen, but Kaito with _directed target_ annoyance was just _terrorizing._ Shinichi was grateful not to be said direct target.

 _xxxx_

The rest of the (admittedly short) visit to Osaka passed in relative peace—for Shinichi and happenings in his general vicinity, anyway. Okay, _yes,_ they ran into another fairly major crime, but it was a kidnaping, not a murder, and between Shinichi being more than capable of figuring out 'who' and 'how', Kaito's extreme talents in removing things from people who wanted to keep them, and the young woman's awareness of the situation and willingness to work with an obvious rescue, it hadn't actually been that bad.

Naturally, Shinichi called the police once he'd gotten Kaito's message than the hostage was safe, and the entire mess was settled.

Aside from the paperwork, anyway, and Shinichi grumbled about the lack of a proper workspace irritably as he resorted to an unused interrogation room for a large flat surface.

Kaito grinned, hopping to sit on the corner of the table. "Not every precinct building can have a desk for you, Shin-shin," he teased.

He got a vague growl for the teasing, the edge of one slightly-sharper-than-normal canine catching the glare from the overhead fluorescents in a manner that spoke of predatory irritation. Kaito took a moment to admire Shinichi's chemist friend's talent and another to wonder what those teeth would look like when she was finished before turning his attention towards the footsteps in the hall.

"Bad time?" Hattori asked, pausing at the open door.

"Nah," Kaito grinned at the intruder while Shinichi growled again and went back to filling out the paperwork before him without otherwise commenting. Osaka didn't have the handy hybrid forms, which apparently gave Shinichi half again as much to fill out as he would have had to for the Tokyo police.

"Kudo?"

Shinichi completely ignored the suddenly wary question and Kaito shrugged, "Shinichi's a bit cranky," he explained. "He was in the sun quite a while, and now there's no proper setup for him to fill out the paperwork, _and_ there's more of it than he gets from Megure."

Hattori winced slightly. "Ah. Is there anythin' I can do?"

Shinichi tossed his wallet at the Osakan before Kaito had a definite answer. "Chocolate. As dark as you can find."

There was a pause. "… Chocolate?"

Shinichi shrugged, "It helps."

"Huh," Hattori visibly considered that. "I thoug' ya didn' like chocolate."

"I don't need to like it for it to help," Shinichi pointed out dryly and Kaito thought that was a very good point.

Apparently, Hattori thought that as well, because he just shrugged. "'Kay. Chocolate. Ya need anythin' Kuroba?"

Kaito shook his head, "I'm fine, Hattori-san. I'm just here to keep Shin-shin company," he smirked, his sense of mischief prompting him not to leave it at that. "And possibly provide a snack, if the day gets _too_ bad."

Shinichi whapped his leg (which was about all he could reach with where Kaito was sitting) and raised his head to scowl. "That _won't_ be necessary."

Hattori grimaced, "Tha's way more than I need ta know abou' yer guys' relationship, thanks."

Kaito grinned, pointing at Shinichi gleefully, "Vampire," he then pointed at Hattori and himself in turn, "Meals."

Hattori cringed, "Gah."

Shinichi's scowl became a palpable thing. "Kaito, quiet _._ Hattori, go away. Your reactions are _encouraging_ him."

Hattori didn't need a second prompting and Kaito sulked a bit as his entertainment left. "Shinichi…" he turned a full-scale pout on the only detective remaining in the room. "You chased my fun away!"

Shinichi ignored him.

Kaito was mildly impressed despite the annoyance that his boredom was going to return. Even _Hakuba_ couldn't resist his pout that well!

Oh, well. They would be heading back to Tokyo in the morning. He had a wider range of targets there, anyway.

 _xxxx_


	14. Cut

_I have been having a bad week. I write under such circumstances, though I'm pretty sure some of it ends up being rather maudlin. ANYWAY. Have a chapter._

 _Cut: To separate out an individual from a herd or group, to forcibly isolate._

 ** _(14)  
Cut_**

Tokyo _was_ more fun than Osaka, Kaito thought to himself as he bounced into Division Two's Ekoda headquarters behind one Nakamori Aoko in order to deliver lunch to her father. He distance-dyed Hakuba's hair a dull red (he had to do _something,_ but decided to be somewhat merciful on _what_ ) as soon as he spotted him, though Hakuba hadn't noticed them yet and Aoko clearly hadn't noticed Hakuba.

He considered the results—from this angle, it made it hard to recognize the British consultant, as the color looked natural, but it wasn't quite as uniform as he would have liked. It wasn't _too_ noticeable, but he got more uniformity from working in close quarters. Clearly his long-distance dye-jobs required more practice. He was lucky it had left the bangs untouched, which would have it take longer for Hakuba to notice.

He hadn't used smoke, wanting to be subtle, _and_ he'd used a quick-dry; so when Hakuba reached up to scrub his fingers through his hair, those fingers came down unstained. So, partial success, and Aoko didn't recognize their old high-school classmate from behind with his hair the wrong color, so didn't call a greeting as he was obviously busy. Kaito grinned and left it at that, wondering how long his favorite prank-target would take to notice the change.

Ten minutes later, Aoko was scolding her dad for something language-related (Kaito wasn't listening with any kind of attentiveness, thoughts on Shinichi and what he might be doing) when Hakuba tapped at the door before entering without waiting for an invite.

Aoko turned and blinked, and Nakamori-keibu shook himself, "Hakuba-kun? Wasn't your hair blond earlier?"

Two sets of eyes slid to Kaito while Hakuba took a second to register the implication. He raised a hand to pinch the bridge of his nose and visibly counted to ten, "Kuroba, when did you get here?"

"We passed you when you were using the break room as an office," Kaito informed cheerily.

"As the only part of my hair I can _see_ is still the right color… what did you do to the rest of it?"

Aoko dug a compact out of her purse and passed it over, "It's not that bad, Hakuba-kun."

Hakuba eyed his reflection for a few moments, then sighed. "I suppose it could be worse. Have I done anything in particular to have warranted this, Kuroba?"

Kaito shook his head, "No, I was just testing how well I could do that from a distance. It's not as even as I want it to be," he informed blandly. "I mean, it worked well in that you didn't notice the dye when it hit you, but it doesn't look all that natural, so… needs work."

Nakamori-keibu scowled in a scolding manner and Aoko huffed and put her hands on her hips. Hakuba only sighed and shook his head, "Will you tell me how to remove it, at least?"

Kaito grinned, "Conditioner, rinse, then shampoo."

Hakuba blinked, "That was suspiciously easy."

Kaito opened his mouth to respond and paused, cut off by his phone. He held up a finger as he checked the screen, then frowned. That was—that was _Takagi-keiji's_ number. He'd seen it in Shinichi's phone.

He snapped it open, "Kuroba Kaito," he said, sharp and a little worried.

 _"_ _Ano… Kuroba-san? I'm at Beika's holding cells. Kudo-san came along for a questioning of one of the three men who were arrested for murder a few weeks ago, but when he saw the man through the glass, he just_ froze. _He's not responding to me and I don't like the way he's holding his head. Is there anything I can do about this, or…?"_

"Kuso," he managed, harsh. "If you can, get him somewhere isolated—I'll be there in thirty minutes, Keiji-san," he was already moving, sweeping past a confused Hakuba before anyone in the room could ask. "Does he have his emergency supplies with him, or am I going to need to get creative?"

Aoko and Hakuba were trailing after him, but he wasn't going to stop and explain. It was probably the men who'd shot him, and he was probably faking a flashback, but—well, the 'faking' part was only ' _probably'_. He needed to know for sure.

 _"_ _He left his bag on his desk, I think. That's a different sector of the building, but I could ask Shiratori-san to bring it by…"_

"Do it. Will he let you get close to him?"

 _"_ _Not close enough to touch, but he doesn't seem hostile."_

Kaito snorted, lengthening his stride and ignoring Aoko's call for him to wait, "He's _never_ going to seem hostile. He's shocked out avoiding people when something's triggered him, and that could kill him in a permanent manner. See if you can get him to take the phone."

 _"_ _Right,"_ Takagi agreed on the other end of the line, then his voice went tinny with distance from the receiver. _"Kudo-san? Kuroba-san wants to talk to you. Can you take the phone?"_

A pause, then the tik-tik sound of a finger brushing a microphone. _"Kaito?"_

Unsteady, rough. Shinichi was a good actor, though, even if it _had_ taken some very intensively immersive 'lessons' for him to learn. So.

"Shinichi," he pitched his voice to something soothing. "What happened? Are you all right?"

 _"_ _The man in the holding cell—I_ know _him,"_ and Takagi was right next to him, so of course he couldn't say too much, and Hakuba and Aoko weren't far behind Kaito, who couldn't run without not being able to talk.

"Know how?"

 _"_ _I can't—it's—I remember being… surprised, I think, then—noise. Pain. It's not—it's not_ clear. _It's—"_ a low, pained hiss. _"Sorry. Can't think. Head hurts. Where… are you?"_

"Leaving Division Two in Ekoda," he informed. "I can call a cab—"

 _"_ _Okay. Okay. I—Takagi-keiji? Is there—somewhere without people?"_

Kaito couldn't make out the response, but Shinichi managed to give him an idea with his next words. _"He says he's coming from the Ekoda precinct building."_ Another pause, then Shinichi was addressing him again, _"Kaito, I'm giving the phone back to Takagi-keiji,"_ there was reluctance there, and Kaito was starting to worry that part of the acting... _wasn't._

"Okay. Just—are you all right, Shinichi?"

 _"_ _I will be. Here,"_ Kaito heard the phone change hands again, and decided to take Shinichi at his word. 'Will be' wasn't 'yes', but it wasn't as bad as it could be, either. Partial flashback, maybe, or possibly the not unheard-of forgetting to take care of himself. Shinichi was a bit… well. Careless, when it came to his own health.

 _"_ _Kuroba-san? I'm going to use the landline to ask one of the Ekoda officers give you a ride. It'll be faster than a cab, and I think that whatever triggered this is important. I've already called the office; Shiratori said he'd bring Kudo-san's bag down when I said it had his medication in it. I think he's the only one in the division who hasn't_ noticed _…"_

Kaito made a sound that wasn't quite a laugh and stopped, "Right. I'm in the lobby of the Ekoda headquarters. I'll wait."

 _"_ _Thank you,"_ Takagi sounded relieved. _"I'll give my phone back to Kudo-san—he was calmer when you were talking to him. Give me three minutes to get the call through."_

"Okay. Thanks," a second later, it was Shinichi again. "Shinichi, talk to me. Um… weirdest non-fatality case you've solved. Go."

A pause, then a shaky laugh. _"Weirdest non-fatality case…? Ah, you won't like that one, it involved sea life. But there was the one where a little girl arranged her own kidnapping…"_

Kaito tapped a Morse message against the side of his phone, and a hesitation in the relating of the case—that poor kid must have been _really_ lonely to pull something like that just to get her dad's attention—let him know Shinichi had gotten it. He then pretended to mute his end of the line and turned an impatient glower on Aoko and Hakuba, both looking confused and worried, though Hakuba's was touched with something closer to alarm.

"Kuroba, what…?"

"Can the interrogation wait? This is kind of important, you know," he snapped back, deliberately focusing on the worry that Shinichi wasn't entirely acting with his shaky voice. Letting that kind of snappiness show was something Kaito generally only did when truly and _terribly_ stressed, and both of the people in front of him would know it.

"Kuroba-san?" one of the Ekoda Division One officers jogged into the room, not quite out of breath but obviously hurried.

Saved by the officer. How novel. "That's me," Kaito stepped sideways into the man's line of sight.

"I'm Hajime Keichi. Beika's Takagi-keiji called, said they need you in a hurry?"

Kaito nodded, already moving towards the officer, "They do. It's not dangerous yet, but…"

Hajime-san nodded sharply, already turning, "Right. This way—I'll give you a lift. We can be there in twelve minutes if we push it."

Kaito waved harshly in the general direction of the two who clearly wanted to question him, the gesture an obvious 'leave it', and took off at a jog to match the officer's.

Behind him, he heard Aoko's worried voice, "Wasn't he from Division One?"

 _xxxx_

Eighteen minutes of phone time where Kaito kept Shinichi relating cases to him—a believable distraction method, considering this part of the building had more cameras than most, and Kaito opened the door to the viewing room Shinichi had been led to (it was overlooking a currently unused interrogation room), snapping his phone shut as he entered.

"Had your lunch, yet?"

Shinichi shook his head, relaxing a bit. "No. Shiratori hasn't been down, but I made sure to stay on top of it this morning. I'm okay for a while yet."

Kaito nodded, accepting that, and crossed the room to give Shinichi an up-close once-over. Shinichi sighed, but tolerated the obvious examination, letting Kaito catch hold of his chin and thumb up his eyelids in what was probably a show for the camera in the corner. "Kaito. I'm _fine._ "

"Are not. Start talking."

Shinichi sighed, tipping his head forward to bang lightly off Kaito's shoulder, the dulled shimmer of the no-longer-luminescent blue runes catching the glare from the door window. The overheads were on, but the viewing rooms had purposefully low lighting so as to not disrupt the two-way mirror. "Get Takagi in here. I don't want to do this twice."

He had to tell partial truths, with the cameras. Might as well not have to repeat himself. Kaito knew the real story, anyway.

Kaito paused, then nodded and pulled away. "Fair enough. Sit down; I'll be back in a minute."

Well. This was going to be fun. The man he'd seen in the interrogation room hadn't been a _surprise_ —he'd known he and the other two had been arrested for the murder they'd been planning, apparently not having stuck to the plan after he'd been shot—but it had somehow felt a bit like a shock, anyway. It had been the one who'd shot him, the one whose face he'd seen over him as his vision had darkened. The other two, he couldn't remember as clearly, visually, though he remembered their voices well enough.

Still, standard procedure was to not let the suspects (they'd been caught leaving, not quite in the act, and hadn't confessed or been convicted, thus the interrogation) see or speak to each other so they couldn't collaborate stories. The fact that it was the one he recognized the easiest would probably turn out to be a good thing, when it came to being able to scare a confession.

Now he only needed to 'explain' to Takagi when Kaito brought him back.

 _xxxx_

 _I feel like this was an awkward place to leave off, somehow, but I wanted to post anyway. So, here I have left it, and it has been posted. I'll get the next chapter up soon, anyway, as I have both the time and the inclination to write at the moment._


	15. Brand

_Couple things, one of which is an idle (if amused) observation: At the time of posting, Chapter 14 was the third longest chapter in this story and it got several comments on the length-or, rather, the lack thereof. I guess that means it was a good chapter, as it left people wanting more!_

 _Either way, though, here's your 'more'. As I said, both time and inclination to write, at the moment._

 _Also: Brand: to mark in a permanent and usually visible manner, with the intent of indicating a person or animal's status and/or affiliation. (i.e. what ranch an animal belongs to or, historically, a method of recognizably marking a criminal as such in a way that indicated their crimes.)_

 ** _(15)  
Brand_**

Takagi had been relieved to get the report from his Ekoda colleague that Kuroba Kaito had been brought and honestly grateful that the young man had opted not to bother checking in with the person who'd called him and had instead gone straight to Kudo-san.

Hajime-keiji had been somewhat apologetic on the 'breach in protocol', but Takagi had waved him off, explaining that Kuroba was a civilian called over to help with a civilian who'd had a triggered flashback, and it wasn't technically a police matter except that it was under their roof and the civilian in question had been brought in to consult on a case. Protocol wasn't exactly something they could force on a perfectly legal civilian matter, and it was probably better that Kuroba dealt with the issue first, anyway.

Hajime had politely excused himself, and now Takagi wasn't quite sure what to do. He _could_ go in and start the questioning, but without Kudo actively there, or at least _watching,_ something might get missed. Kudo was _terrifyingly_ observant, after all. Every case he'd ever worked personally had been closed with a confession from the guilty party, no matter how grudging or enraged some of those confessions were.

(He still wondered about Conan-kun, from time to time. He had been so alike to his older cousin, from the unflinching intent against any possible danger to the 'murder magnet' effect and the way cases were always solved when he was there, even when he wasn't the one actively solving them. That he'd admitted to, anyway, because Takagi had his suspicions.)

"Takagi-keiji?"

Takagi blinked himself out of his musings, "Ano, yes, Kuroba-san?"

"Shinichi said to get you."

"He has something?"

"He said he didn't want to have to 'do this twice'," Kuroba reported, a bit dryly. "Considering how tense he is, I didn't want to push. He doesn't get this way for much."

No, Kudo was usually a lot more composed, _especially_ under pressure. "Right," Takagi fell in beside the younger male as he led the way back into the room he'd shown Kudo to earlier.

Kudo was sitting in one of the chairs, which he had moved to the far side of the table so he could face the door while leaning against polished steel, head in his hands. He looked so uncharacteristically rattled that Takagi felt a spike of alarm. "Kudo-san?"

A vague gesture towards the other chairs had Kuroba move to drag one over to the short side of the table adjacent to where Kudo was sitting before dropping into it, draping his arms over the table to where his elbow knocked gently against Kudo's.

A little tension eased out of Kudo's shoulders and Takagi pulled another chair over to that end of the table, sitting across from Kudo. The setup felt less oppressive that way, which was good, because Takagi didn't think any of them needed 'oppressive' right then.

"Kudo-san?"

A slow inhale, then Kudo raised his head, "Sorry. When I saw him… I don't know his name. But… I remember that I was heading home from the case at that restaurant opening that Sonoko and Ran had dragged me to and I took the shortcut through the back of the park—it cuts something like twenty minutes off the walk from the train station, so I do it fairly often. I remember hearing low voices, but not thinking anything of it—I don't run into people there that late very often, but it's at least every other week or so—and going around the turn past the public restroom. I saw that man and two others, but he was the one who pulled a gun."

Takagi tensed. Kudo had been missing for _two days._ What had happened? He'd come back suffering from what that doctor had theorized was traumatic amnesia, and if a face triggered the memory, that was probably… but it was _Kudo._ Kudo didn't _get_ traumatized—

"He pulled the trigger before he even had it raised all the way," Kudo looked off to the side, throat working. "I heard the shot—the silencer was home-made and shoddy, only partially effective—felt the impact, and my leg went out from under me. I don't know how many times he actually fired, but…" Kudo touched his chest, "I think I died. I had to have, I was hit four times and the only one that might not have been lethal was the _first_ —"

Takagi jolted. Okay, so the 'vampire' thing was—unnervingly likely, but… "Kudo-san? What are you saying?"

"I remembered the case, and the train station, and waking up in the woods with a bullet in my thigh and three holes through my torso," Kudo closed his eyes. "I couldn't move, and I didn't know how long it had been, but I had a hole through my side and two more through my _chest._ I was in the middle of nowhere and my bag wasn't too far from me, but it was hours before I could move. I should have been _dead_. I _had_ to have died. Those men must have panicked after that one had shot me—but I really, _really_ shouldn't have _woken up_. I didn't know what else to do—Araide had worked with me a bit on the case with the FBI, so I knew he was trustworthy. But… I didn't remember _how,_ or who, or… but we can get them with this, I think."

It sounded crazy. It _really_ sounded crazy, but Kuroba was tugging Kudo's arm towards him to wrap a hand around his wrist, looking concerned, and Kudo was rubbing at his chest and he'd never been so staggeringly inarticulate before. But… as an officer, Takagi couldn't take even Kudo Shinichi at his word on something like _this_. "Kudo-san…"

Kudo swallowed, but apparently realized what Takagi didn't want to ask. He opened his jacket and tugged up his shirt.

There were bullet scars on his chest, all right, three of them—one visibly newer than the others—all of them clearly lung shots. And… no signs of surgery on any of them. Which was…

You didn't live through lung shots without immediate and intensive treatment, which _had_ to involve surgery. That kind of damage wasn't easily fixed. Another, lower left, looking roughly the same age as the older two on his chest, which matched up with the story even if they did look far too healed. The fact that he was once again scrubbing the heel of his palm over the area where the scars were proved they weren't makeup, and the way the skin tugged showed they weren't tattoos, either.

But. If he'd survived and been able to get about on his own after two days…

No. Not survived. You didn't _survive_ that kind of thing without _immediate_ hospital aide. And even Kudo said he thought he'd died, that he _had to have_ —and Kudo had always been haunted by death. Maybe the Shinigami had simply refused to take him. (Legends notwithstanding, who knew how vampires really came about?)

Takagi shivered, but forced his thoughts to the last thing Kudo had said, "You said we can get them with this, Kudo-san. How? You—don't exactly make a believable corpse right now."

"They killed me and then dumped me in the woods; they'll _have_ to recognize me. Especially that one, I remember seeing his face above me when…" he trailed off, shaking himself as his eyes flashed. "Anyway. Go in with Kaito—they'll see the resemblance and think we're related. I'll come in with you, but don't acknowledge me. Not that I'm there, not anything I say or do. Don't even look at me. Kaito can probably cue you, he's as good as my mom when it comes to putting on a show. I think I can pressure him into confessing, but I don't actually know his name. I wasn't given a file and I wasn't exactly aware long enough to ask when we met."

Okay, yes, Takagi was pretty sure that if he'd killed someone and then had the someone walk in looking perfectly alive while no one else seemed to be able to see or hear that someone—yeah, a confession sounded like a pretty valid option. Also, it would be final proof on whether or not Kudo really _had_ come back from the dead.

… it was a little scary that Takagi was actually finding that a _plausible option._ Still, if they were going to try this…

"His name is Shucho Goma, and he and the other two were arrested for murder in the first of Ayama Katsuki. She was a waitress at the New Moon nightclub in Beika, and apparently all three of them had been after her attention, but she'd been dating a young man from Haido named Enjochu Mugenshi. He's actually been in Osaka for the past month taking care of his family since his sister and her husband got in a car wreck and their nine year old son has school to attend. He was expected to return next week, with his sister recovered and her husband nearly so, but he hired a caretaker and came back as soon as we called him."

The spark in Kudo's eyes made Takagi shiver.

 _xxxx_

It was hard for Kaito not to show anger when he stepped into the room just before Takagi, _knowing_ the man had hurt Shinichi and having to pretend he didn't. The man startled on seeing him before scowling, trying to cover the flicker of unease with discontent. Shinichi, as usual, had been right about the automatic assumption of 'related', then.

Takagi followed Kaito in and he heard the man inhale sharply, which meant Shinichi had slipped soundlessly around the door before Takagi closed it.

He was good at moving silently, almost as good as Kaito.

"Hello, Shucho-san. I'm Takagi Wataru, and this is Kuroba Kaito. We have a few questions for you regarding the murder of Ayama Katsuki."

The man scowled at them, jerking his cuffed hands slightly. "Oh, yeah? Who's the other one?"

Takagi was blinking when Kaito glanced behind himself, frowning as he let his gaze slide past Shinichi as if his detective weren't there. "Is he… all there, Takagi-keiji?"

Takagi looked around as well, and though his eyes hitched on Shinichi briefly, his head moved smoothly and the man wouldn't be able to see Takagi's eyes from the table, anyway. It would do. "… Shucho-san, who are you talking about?"

"The one who looks like that kid!" Shucho twitched his head at Kaito and Kaito stiffened.

"Looks like—you've seen Shinichi? When? Where? He went missing twenty days ago!"

Shucho jolted back in his seat, eyes skittering between Shinichi, Takagi, and Kaito.

Shinichi took the opportunity to move forward, footsteps utterly silent.

Kaito frowned at Shucho, subtly triggering one of his various toys and using the man's obvious distraction to get it into Shinichi's pant-cuff without him noticing, the egg-shaped device making a low-lying cloud of cold mist. The dry-ice style mist bombs were great for 'showy', but they didn't last long once opened. He had eight on him, though, so it would probably be enough. Depending on how this went, _one_ might be enough.

"Where did you see Shinichi?" Kaito asked again, stepping forward. "How long ago?"

The man's eyes flicked to him for a bare instant before Shinichi's continued movement drew it back, "Who are you!?"

Kaito frowned again, glancing at Takagi as though Shinichi weren't there. "Keiji-san, I think he might need some kind of help."

Shinichi smiled, and even only able to see the edge of it, Kaito could tell it was not a nice smile. "My name is Kudo Shinichi, Shucho Goma-san. I met you twenty-one days ago—I wasn't reported missing _immediately,_ after all. You were quick on the draw, if sloppy, although you shot enough times to make up for the poor aim with numbers. You were lucky I fell _into_ the path of those bullets, though, or I might have been able to fight back."

"You're dead," he jerked at his cuffs, trying to pull his arms free by brute force. "You can't be here!"

Well. Considering the vague echo to Shinichi's voice that Kaito had no idea how he was pulling off, that was an understandable reaction—it was even creepier than he'd expected, actually. And Shucho was so freaked out that he probably wouldn't notice if Kaito and Takagi just let this play out.

"Do you know what I do, Shucho-san?" Shinichi asked casually, pacing with that eerie silence aside from the equally eerie echoing voice.

The man shook his head, a little wild-eyed.

"I am—have always been—a detective, Shucho-san. I specialize in homicide. I bring murderers to justice. I have never failed to find the killer if I am involved with a murder case."

Shucho leaned back further, a strange little keening sound escaping him.

"Did you _really_ think that something so common as _death_ would stop me?"

"I killed you," Shucho burst out, high-pitched and wild. "I killed you! You can't do anything to me! You're only a ghost!"

"Only a ghost?" Shinichi sneered—and _that_ was something Kaito could go the rest of his life never seeing again, because Shinichi snarking and sarcastic was great; but that condescending, derisive danger was just _terrifying_ and he wasn't even the target—blue eyes zeroing in on the man's face. He stalked forward, each hand briefly brushing the bracelet on the opposite wrist.

Kaito noticed blue dull to grey.

Shinichi took hold of the edge of the steel interrogation room table, leaving indents in the metal, _"Only_ a _ghost?_ Didn't you know, Shucho-san, that ghosts are memory? And memory… _memory_ has _power._ " He waited a beat while the cuffed man strained to lean further away before his lips twisted in something disgusted.

"But I'm not here to kill you, Shucho-san. I am here to protect others _from_ you. You tell them what you've done— _all of it_ —and they will throw you in jail. The other two will suffer a similar fate for their parts in murders, and I will consider bars protection enough for the others you would let you black heart endanger. Should you try to walk free… well. Truth will out in the end, and justice will take you."

Twenty minutes later, they had a full and recorded confession. The man had panicked even more when he realized that Shinichi _wasn't_ a ghost, especially when Kaito snagged Shinichi's bag from Shiratori and had passed him his SynthBlood thermos before he even got out of the interrogation room. Shinichi had smiled (Haibara had lengthened the fangs a bit, too, so they were more noticeable against the light) and taken a deep draw of the dark liquid before licking red from his lips.

"You know," Shinichi stated conversationally, ignoring Shiratori's wary look at the thermos as he stepped into the hall without actually closing the door behind him, "We basically have it recorded on police surveillance cameras that I'm not exactly…"

"Alive?" Kaito suggested.

He got a dirty look for that. "I'm pretty sure I currently have a pulse."

Kaito grinned, "How about 'mortal', then?"

Shinichi shook his head, "I can probably die—I mean, there are a bunch of legends around that kind of thing, so I seriously doubt 'immortal' is a literal description."

"Human, then," Kaito's grin had flickered with the 'die' comment, but the continuation had eased the tightness in his chest and he couldn't quite help the smirk, "Leech."

"If you're going to compare me with animals, can you at least pick one with a spine?"

"One's too obvious, and the only others I can think of with spines are more suited to water*."

"You just want me to say it, don't you?"

Kaito blinked innocently, "I think Shiratori-san wasn't there that day at the office. It really seems quite rude to leave him out of it," he flung an arm over Shinichi's shoulders, wrapping it around into a partial headlock, his elbow knocking into Shinichi's chin.

"Oi, watch it, Kaito, I _will_ bite you—"

"With those wimpy little fangs? Think of the crush damage," Kaito teased, taking his arm back all the same.

"We've already established that they haven't finished growing in yet, and stop with the mocking, it's not like I _asked_ for this—"

"I just realized something," Takagi stated, apropos of nothing discernible. "You said 'think' you're related—are you two _not?_ "

Shinichi and Kaito looked at each other, then Takagi, then a rather shell-shocked-looking Shiratori, and Kaito spared a moment to kick the interrogation room door shut behind him. "No, not by blood. Our parents were friends, but the family trees don't have any intermarriages for at least the past twelve generations. We had to check, though, because we seriously could pass ourselves off as twins."

"It turns out that it was just the universe's way of telling us we were _meant_ to be together, to adore each other for all eternity, perfectly balanced in our relative insanities and ability to terrorize murderers by proximity~!"

"Oh, for—ba'arou, that doesn't happen in _real life_ , Kaito, what are you even—"

"Neither do _vampires,_ but here you are," Kaito cut in brightly.

Shinichi growled at him, fingers twitching, and Kaito glanced down at where those fingers were—not touching him. But…

"Shinichi. I don't see blue." Which was probably deliberate, if no one had commented on the usually-not-visible 'Seals'.

Shinichi nodded slightly, "I know, but I didn't want to advertise them when Shucho had a direct line-of-sight on me. Kaito, could you…?"

"Yeah, let me just— _binda*,_ " Kaito stated firmly, cupping the silver band with his left hand while turning it off with his right (not that anyone else knew what he was doing) before repeating on the other. "I get that the guy isn't exactly likeable, but messing with those isn't a great idea without something life-threatening going on."

"I know, I know—I was being careful, and that's why I wasn't touching _people._ "

"Ano…" Takagi started hesitantly, while Shiratori still didn't seem quite capable of speech, "What _are_ those?"

"Seals. See the table?" Kaito asked. "The runes kind-of turn blue when he's not going to be damaging things when he gets annoyed."

Shiratori turned his head stiffly, then went a little wobbly on seeing the twin grab marks in the steel.

Score! New believer! Next target would have to be Megure-keibu.

 _xxxx_

 _*Specifically, vampire bats and lampreys._

 _*I do not speak Old Norse. This is from an online translator, but considering the Germanic origins of half of English, it does make sense. Binda—to bind, as in tie (a bandage) or restrain. The only translation I could find for 'seal' was the animal._


	16. Reprobate

_Have a chapter! Also, I'm starting to figure out an actual plot-line for this, aren't you guys proud of me? Granted, up 'till now there hasn't been one planned out, but now I actually have something in mind! Go me!_

 ** _(16)  
Reprobate_**

Some careful consideration had Shinichi actually 'explaining' to Megure, off the record, of course. While under most circumstances, he'd be willing to hint and allow people to draw their own conclusions, this was _Megure._ Who was both superstitious (he was the first one to toss the word 'Shinigami' at Kogoro before it became clear that 'Conan' was at every crime scene the semi-sleuth was and more) and close enough to his family that he would _actively_ look into rumors about him if not headed off. (There had been similar reasoning behind having Takagi be the one to witness the initial 'flashback'.)

Better that he knew what he was talking around in his reports, so to speak. Also better that he could issue certain orders to his subordinates on what to do—or _not_ do—in certain situations. Since Shinichi worked with Division One so frequently, it was safer, even if it did involve dropping the pretense at subtlety.

All that aside, a little creativity in wording on the report around the confession, and they had enough that would hold up in court to put that man—and his accomplices—away for a vey long time without making anyone in the police or associated detectives sound crazy.

 _xxxx_

"What?" Shinichi asked, mildly uneasy with Kaito's side-eying him as the two of them made their way out of Megure's office with Takagi-keiji (the man had been required for the verbal report as well, of course, because he'd been the one in charge of the interrogation).

"I just can't figure out how you did the voice thing," Kaito admitted.

Shinichi blinked, then smiled and pulled a Holmes-themed pin out of his pocket, "Right, I forgot. Here. I grabbed one of the spare Tantei-badges that the Hakase made for you. I set mine to transmit and the spare to receive and just had them both in my pocket."

"Ah, so it made the echo effect by projecting what you were saying a fraction of a second after you said it," Kaito grinned, "It sounded _really_ creepy, by the way."

Shinichi snorted, somehow sounding dignified even then. "And the misting device you had in your pocket wasn't just as bad?"

Kaito's grin broadened, "It certainly helped! But not as much as you grabbing the table at something approaching full-strength."

Shinichi shrugged one shoulder, "I admit, I _did_ want him scared. To be honest, I _wanted_ to do far worse."

He had. Remembering pain and being alone in the forest covered in his own blood, wondering morbidly if this was how dumped murder victims would feel if they truly were tied to the place of their deaths as spirits like so many ghost stories claimed… he'd wanted to _terrify_ the man. Knowing he'd been shot down only so the man could go kill a woman who had never done him harm out of petty _jealousy_ …

Well. Shinichi had wanted to _hurt_ him, for that. He still didn't understand the human desire to kill, but he definitely had held the desire to leave a lasting mark.

"I can't blame you," Kaito murmured. " _I_ wanted to hurt him."

Huh. Considering his nighttime policies—even involving the people _sniping_ at him—that was saying a lot. "Mm. I kind of wished that my fangs were longer," Shinichi agreed, just to hear Takagi choke.

Kaito shook his head, a tint of amusement in the action, "They _are,_ " he pointed out. "Longer than last week, anyway. It's hard to notice, but—I think I won't need to worry about a pocketknife if I find you full of holes in another few weeks."

Shinichi blinked at him, "… it's probably a better idea if you just keep a packet of that synthetic available. I know it's not exactly the same, but it's been working well enough, even if we _do_ need the added stabilizer sometimes."

Takagi blinked and gestured at the thermos half-visible in Shinichi's bag. "That's not blood?"

Shinichi glanced at the officer and shook his head, "Not really. The chemical breakdown is the same, and it _does_ work well enough, even if it tastes a little flat. Without the cells, though, apparently my body has to work harder to make it usable; but it's a fair trade, considering my creepy chemist makes it in powder form for later hydrating. I don't need to worry about—well, a lot of problems that might come with carrying around liquid blood. The thermos is really more for quick, easy carrying of liquid when I'm _planning_ not to be home when I'll need it. It hadn't been perfected by that recent heist, though, and lung-shots don't heal easily."

"Thus the pocketknife," Kaito agreed sagely. "Shin-shin wasn't exactly in the best shape when I found him."

"It wasn't _that_ bad, Kaito," he protested. "I would have been fine."

"Yeah, but it would have taken longer."

Point, he supposed, or at least what _sounded_ like one. It was still a good thing that the bandage Kaito had slapped on that next day hadn't come off, though. No one had seen the fake puncture wounds but Shinichi and Kaito, so there was no one to say it hadn't been a cut.

"Erm," Takagi hesitated, "What?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Kaito's a mother hen."

Kaito pouted, "I am _not._ "

"Kaito, you ambushed me on the way home from the heist and promptly followed me home and _mothered_ until I passed out. I'm pretty sure you mothered until _you_ passed out, too, and _then_ you fed me in the morning."

Kaito coughed, "So I may have been a bit _concerned,_ but it was perfectly reasonable! When I found you, you had a hole in your chest!"

"Mostly closed, and it's not like it wasn't _obvious_ that I was going to be fine. Besides, you have no excuse for the morning."

"You were _wobbling_ when you tried to walk! It was _obvious_ that you needed something more than normal food—and don't look at me like that, I know you can eat like a normal person, but I _also_ know it's more of a tide-over than a meal for you."

Shinichi sighed—that was one he couldn't even really refute, because he _had_ been feeling a lot better since Haibara had started him on the SynthBlood. He didn't tire as easily and the periodic mild dizzy spells had stopped entirely, not to mention he'd only had one immune lapse. "I give up—still, just keep one of the SynthBlood packets on hand; it'll save us both a lot of trouble."

Takagi coughed, "Ano, I don't want to know about this. I really, _really_ don't."

Shinichi blinked, "Sorry, Takagi-keiji. It's easier to treat it like it's not serious. It still freaks me out a bit if I think on it too hard. Kaito took it a lot better than I did."

Kaito shrugged, "There was a witch in my high-school class who used a _voodoo doll_ on me one day because I made her mad. Vampires existing wasn't much of a shock, after that."

"… You're going to have to tell me that story someday," Shinichi decided. "Anyway, I've got paperwork to fill out, and then we are going _home._ "

Kaito nodded agreement and Takagi took the opportunity to bid a hasty farewell and retreat to his own desk across the room.

Shinichi shook his head, trying not to smile. Kaito was a horrible influence, because it was turning out that trolling the police really _was_ fun, and Shinichi was starting to want to _actively_ cause trouble. Baiting Hakuba could be interesting, especially since he'd been one of the ones who'd seen Shinichi get shot, and he knew Kaito had a range of tricks devoted solely to embarrassing or annoying the British detective.

He shouldn't encourage the magician. He really, _really_ shouldn't.

"Hey, Kaito? Want to go see Hakuba tomorrow?"

 _xxxx_

Megure glared at the paperwork before him, pondering Kudo-kun's… state of existence. If the boy hadn't proved it… but he _had,_ and that he hadn't lost his mind was more worrying than if he had been crazy.

At least he had someone who seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride backing him up, because the Kuroba boy was clearly not going to be letting Kudo Shinichi deal with everything he was currently going through on his own. The fact that Kudo hadn't protested the nicknames his not-quite-lookalike had tossed at him was telling, but the fact that he had returned them in kind said a lot about how well the two got along, even if he'd only called the other boy 'Kai' once while Kuroba had been using 'Shin-shin' a good two out of three times when naming Kudo-kun.

And Megure was avoiding the actual issue. He had no idea what to do about this, or even if anything _could_ be done. Kudo-kun had seemed resigned to the situation, but not happy with it. Of course, who would be? Either way, aside from Kuroba-kun's request that he talk to his officers about what to do if Kudo-kun was injured (or even badly upset), there wasn't anything he could think of.

Aside from maybe research western horror story monsters, but Kudo had pointed out that legends grew in the telling and the truth seemed far more limited—or less, in some cases—than fiction. And misinformation would be worse than lack of information.

He was going in circles. Although… had they told Kudo-kun's parents?

Probably not. Kudo-kun saw his parents so rarely that he likely hadn't even thought of informing them, and if they heard through _rumor_ … Megure sighed and picked up his phone.

He was not looking forward to explaining this mess to Yuusaku.

 _xxxx_


	17. Reason

_Sorry for the long silence. I've had a bit of a relapse, and as much as I like writing, I'm rarely awake long enough to do any. I have a horse and dog to take care of, after all, (and rabbit, but he's not very demanding) and I'm so exhausted all the time that I can barley function. I honestly don't know that I'll be updating with any regularity for a while, but I'll do my best._

 ** _(17)  
Reason_**

Kudo Yuusaku frowned as he checked who was calling him—he tended to ignore his editors unless he had reason not to, after all—and saw Megure-keibu's personal number.

Well. It wasn't the station phone, so it probably wasn't anything official, but Megure hadn't called for his help on a case since Conan had happened. Shinichi's skills had honestly gotten to a point where Yuusaku had the very unspoken belief that if his son wasn't getting it, neither would he. Still, "Megure-keibu?"

" _Ah, Yuusaku-kun,_ " was the reply, just a little hesitant and more than a bit nervous-sounding. Not an encouraging combination. " _Have you heard from Shinichi-kun lately?_ "

Yuusaku straightened, "No. What's wrong? Is he—"

" _No, no, I saw him a few minutes ago. And… it's not really my place, but I wanted to know if he had already told you what had happened. If he hasn't, either he hasn't thought of it or he doesn't want to tell you, and since I don't know which it is…_ "

And Shinichi was over the age of consent, so if he didn't want them told and it wasn't something that the law required him to tell… actually, there were no laws against, provided that it wasn't case-related*; but Megure respected Shinichi, and that was cause enough to keep reasonable secrets. "I'll call him in another few hours."

" _Yuusaku-kun? If he doesn't tell you… call me back. I think you_ should _know._ "

Well, that sounded ominous.

"… Is this life-threatening?"

" _I don't think so. Not directly, anyway. But… well, if it weren't for the Kuroba boy, I think Shinichi-kun would have broken_."

Kuroba boy? _Kaito?_ What on earth…? "What does Kaito have to do with this?"

" _He's been keeping a close eye on Shinichi-kun for the past few weeks. Staying with him, I think, and Takagi said he had to call Kuroba-kun to the station earlier when Shinichi-kun had some kind of flashback and wasn't responding. This whole mess… well. Shinichi-kun should be given the chance to tell you himself, but…_ "

It was starting to sound like a phone conversation wasn't going to cut it. If Shinichi was having _flashbacks…_ and since when had he and Kaito actually _met?_ Although, well, if Toichi's boy was looking after Shinichi, he supposed he should just be grateful for it. It's not like he and Yukiko were doing a very good job, even if Shinichi was an adult, now. "All right, Megure-keibu. I'll let you know how it goes."

A trace of relief filtered into the reply, " _Thank you, Yuusaku-kun. I'm sorry, but I really do have to finish this paperwork._ "

"Of course." He hung up as soon as he heard a returned farewell and stood, making his way to the foot of the stairs in the little Hawaii estate, "Yukiko! Start packing! We're headed back to Tokyo! I'm going to book the first available flight!"

Something that started as a complaint and ended as a worried sound echoed down from the second floor, but Yuusaku didn't pay it any mind as he called the nearest airport. He needed to check on his son, and Yukiko would certainly agree once she knew what Megure had said.

 _xxxx_

Hakuba Saguru did not pace. He watched the time with what was admittedly obsessive precision, but that was his big nervous habit. He didn't tap his fingers or chew on pens or randomly dye people's hair outrageous colors and he most definitely did _not_ pace.

He had yet to convince himself that he wasn't actively pacing Nakamori-keibu's office while Aoko fidgeted in the guest chair in the corner and Nakamori-keibu himself scowled fiercely and barked angrily into his desk phone.

Nakamori slammed his phone back into its cradle with enough force to make the plastic creak in protest and zeroed his attention back on Hakuba. "What _exactly_ did Kaito say before he left the building?"

Exactly? "… that it wasn't dangerous _yet,_ " Hakuba scowled. "The officer said Beika precinct needed him 'in a hurry', and considering he said 'Shinichi' several times…"

Nakamori's scowl deepened. "I'll try Megure-keibu."

Forty seconds later, Nakamori's shoulders eased a bit, "So, they're fine?"

A pause to listen, then the Inspector nodded slightly, "That's… all right. I'm guessing I shouldn't call Kaito, then?"

Another pause, "Right. Thanks, Megure. I'll give it a few hours. Bye."

Well. That didn't sound _bad,_ at any rate. "Keibu?"

"Triggered flashback, apparently. Kudo froze up completely, and it took a bit for him to calm down. Kudo doesn't _freeze up._ That boy was terrifying at _fourteen_ , nevermind _now._ I can see why Megure's man panicked and called in Kaito."

From the few times he'd met Kudo, Hakuba was inclined to agree. "But no one got hurt?"

"There's some damage to a table and possible psychological trauma to a murderer, but no one was physically injured. Kaito's taking Kudo home, and Megure suggested we give Kudo a few hours to finish getting his head on straight again before we start calling."

Hakuba thought that over, "Has there ever been a time when Kudo-san's involvement _didn't_ end in possible psychological trauma to a murderer?"

"… not that I remember, no."

"Ah. Right, then."

 _xxxx_

"Were you doing anything important when Takagi called you?" Shinichi asked Kaito as they made their way down the sidewalk towards the Kudo mansion.

"Important? No, but I was with Hakuba, Aoko, and Nakamori-keibu."

"Is that going to be a problem?"

Kaito looked considering, "I don't think so. Hakuba and Nakamori-keibu will at least _think_ they have an idea of what was going on, and someone will probably explain to Aoko, at least partly."

Shinichi nodded. Not ideal, but it would do. "Right. I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted. I'm going to eat and sleep."

Kaito paused briefly, twisting to eye Shinichi more carefully. "You all right?"

Shinichi huffed a half-laugh. "Seeing him again… it was a bit… _draining,_ I guess. I'll be fine."

Kaito dipped his head, acknowledging. "I'll stay."

Shinichi knew protesting would be pointless, and he didn't really _want_ to protest, anyway. He was tired, and it was easier to sleep with Kaito in the house, even when he couldn't hear him. It felt safe.

Kaito—Kid—had _always_ felt safe, if irritating, and Shinichi had enough faith in his skill that he wasn't worried about any actual dangers slipping in past the magician-thief unnoticed.

"Thanks."

 _xxxx_

 _*I actually don't know what confidentiality laws there are in Japan, so…_


	18. Redoubt

_Redoubt: a large defended building such as a fortress or castle; a hold._

 ** _(18)  
Redoubt_**

Shinichi blamed a combination of Kaito and Haibara. Yes, he'd had a bit of a drama-streak prior to meeting either of them, in no small part thanks to his parents; but he'd never been this kind of evil. Because sic'ing Kaito on Hakuba was _definitely_ evil.

(And way too entertaining.)

Of course, Hakuba's state of mind was probably not helped by Haibara having dragged Shinichi into the lab the night before for his third round of fang 'lengthening', deciding that speeding up the process was going to be fine. Which meant that they were now just that side of obvious—he'd seen people with canines as long naturally, but they didn't tend to be quite as sharp and Hakuba had met him before. It was obvious to anyone that knew him that his teeth weren't the same as they had been.

"Oi, Shin-shin," Kaito paused his tormenting of his old high-school classmate to bounce over and wave a hand in front of Shinichi's face. "You in there?"

Shinichi blinked, realizing somewhat belatedly that his eyes had unfocused a little and he'd been staring _through_ Hakuba, who was starting to look less harassed and more nervous.

He couldn't help it. He really couldn't. "Yeah, sorry. Just hungry."

Kaito narrowed his eyes as Hakuba blanched behind him and said firmly, "Shinichi, no eating other detectives."

Shinichi scowled right back, "Since when have I bitten _anyone_ when left with a choice?"

Kaito paused, tilted his head slightly, then shrugged one shoulder. "I did kind of force the issue, didn't I?"

Shinichi scowled harder, "You didn't ' _kind of_ ' force the issue, you _forced the issue._ You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"Bah," Kaito waved airily, " _You?_ Yeah, right, Mr. I-Save-People-Who-are-Actively-Trying-to-Kill-Me. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have killed _Gin_ in that situation, nevermind _me._ "

Okay. That was a bit of a point, even if they were heavily alluding to a situation that had never happened. He _had_ instinctively reached out to Gin when the man had been flung off a building by his own explosives during the main takedown, and it had been _Gin._ The guy had inspired equal parts terror and rage in him—and had quite deliberately ignored the offered aid. Jodie had informed Conan that they'd found the man's body, and he'd been… _relieved._ Not happy, not for even that man's death, but… well. It was one less thing to fear.

Hakuba straightened, "Who is 'Gin'?"

Kaito winced.

Shinichi only sighed, "You know how I went off the grid for four years?"

Hakuba nodded warily.

"He was why. Gin force-fed me an experimental poison. I survived, but it was obvious that he and his partner were part of a larger group and I couldn't risk them finding out I hadn't died, especially not when I was still badly weakened by the poison. I ended up falling in alongside the FBI—they'd been after the group for more than sixty years. We managed to get the heads and most of the main assassins, although Gin blew himself off a building and died and Vermouth is still at large, along with a few sub-factions—Including the ones who've been sniping at Kid. Those people had their fingers in _everything._ "

"Yeah, and FBI-san said you tried to save him," Kaito shook his head, "That man had a personal vendetta against you after he figured out you'd lived—trying to help him was _stupid._ "

"I wasn't thinking, okay? It was just—fire, and noise, and _someone was falling._ I didn't stop to register _who._ "

Kaito snorted, "You would have offered him a hand anyway, you just might have been more careful about it. I _know_ you."

"Is that such a bad thing?" Shinichi asked.

"No," Kaito laughed, soft and fond. "No, it's just—it's dangerous and stupid and _amazing._ There are so many people who claim to be good guys who would never go that far for a stranger, much less an _enemy_."

Hakuba's stance eased somehow, and his expression went considering. "You…" he hesitated.

Shinichi's phone rang, thoroughly interrupting the moment.

 _xxxx_

Ran was both startled and taken aback when she answered the door to her mother's apartment—it was one of the few days where she and her ever-busy lawyer mother _both_ had a little time, so they'd decided on a quiet dinner in to catch up without interruptions (aside from the phone call her mother was on and now the door; maybe they should have gone out after all)—and found Shinichi's parents on the other side. "Yuusaku-san, Yukiko-chan! What…?"

Yuusaku cast a glance at his wife before looking back at Ran, "… Have you talked to Shinichi lately?"

Ran felt a spike of alarm. "Not for a couple weeks… what's wrong?"

Shinichi's father shook his head as Ran backed up to let the Kudos in, "I don't know. Megure-keibu called us yesterday afternoon and some of the things he said… but Shinichi isn't home, so I was hoping you'd know where to find him."

The alarm had faded a bit, but was quickly being replaced by worry. "What do you mean? Is Shinichi all right?"

"According to Megure, he's… _stressed._ The keibu mentioned flashbacks, and I admit that I'm concerned. Your father said you were here, so we really just came to ask if you know where Shinichi is, and if it's as bad as Megure made it sound."

Ran shook her head, "No, I haven't talked to Shinichi in almost four weeks. Not since just after he went missing, but it was only two days and he seemed all right afterwards. A little shaken, I guess, and he couldn't remember what had happened, but…"

Yukiko covered her mouth, tears welling up in her eyes.

"He must have remembered something, then," Yuusaku rubbed his forehead tiredly, "All right. If you don't know where he is, I guess we'll just go home and wait for him to get back."

"I can call him," Ran offered, wondering if they had already.

Yuusaku blinked, "… I didn't even think of that," he admitted, suddenly sheepish.

Ran smiled slightly, then went to grab her phone from the table and dialed. She could still hear her mother on the phone in the bedroom, so she moved them to the dining room where putting her phone on speaker wouldn't distract her and promptly did so.

When Shinichi answered, his tone was a little worried, " _Hey, Ran. Is something wrong?_ "

She scowled fiercely even though he couldn't see it, but his parents stayed quiet. "I should be asking _you_ that! Your parents just showed up on my mother's doorstep wondering where you are! Apparently Megure-keibu called them yesterday, and if there's something wrong, you should ask for help!"

A pause, then a very chagrined, " _I forgot about my parents._ "

There was a squawk in the background, and another, somewhat familiar voice further away asking in a startled manner, " _You haven't told your_ parents!?"

" _Not now, please, Hakuba,"_ Shinichi snapped back. " _Kaito—the duct tape is overkill; don't. The only people I've_ told _are Megure, Takagi, and Kaito. Everyone else kind of picked it up on their own._ "

A snort, " _Yeah, like the entire Kaitou Kid Taskforce. Seriously, Shin-shin, you should start wearing a vest._ "

" _Shut up, Kaito. I'm trying to talk to Ran, and she's as bad as Nakamori-san about things like this._ "

"Things like _what?_ " Ran demanded, seeing both of Shinichi's parents restraining themselves from demanding the same thing.

Shinichi sighed heavily, " _This… isn't a good phone conversation. If you know where my parents are, tell them to meet me at home in an hour or so. If you're free, you can come. If not, we'll arrange a meeting later._ "

Ran glanced at the Kudos, and got a nod from Yuusaku, but neither of them said anything aloud. "Right. Okay. I'm having dinner with Kaa-san tonight, but I'll be free tomorrow at three-forty if you can meet me at Poirot."

Another sigh, " _All right. Barring_ interruptions, _I'll see you then._ "

" _There will be no interruptions,_ " the one who sounded a lot like Shinichi in the background declared loudly. " _I wonder if I should get you to Akako? The murder rate in your vicinity_ cannot _be normal._ "

" _Kaito. Mention your classroom witch and me in the same sentence again, and I'll consider altering my policy on biting._ "

Ran blinked, finger hovering over the 'end' button. She could tell Shinichi was lowering his phone, because his voice was growing rapidly more faint, but the purred half-sentence that came in last was a little startling.

" _Oh, you can bite me an-_ "

She stared at the phone screen, then looked up at the Kudos. "Does Shinichi have a boyfriend?"

Yuusaku looked a little shell-shocked himself. "… I didn't _think_ so…"

 _xxxx_

Hakuba was relieved when Kudo and Kuroba excused themselves. He had some things to think about, regarding those two—both as a unit and individually. Kudo wasn't—well. Kudo wasn't _threatening,_ he supposed. Indeed, Kudo was… he didn't even _know_ what Kudo was, aside from impossible.

Only not impossible, because he _was._

Kuroba… Kuroba seemed to be half in love with Kudo, and _that_ was unexpected. The easy manner between the two spoke of long-standing friendship, and Kudo had rolled his eyes at Hakuba's own surprise on first seeing them together at the station, pointing out that their fathers were each others' respective godfathers. Kuroba flirted—but Kuroba flirted with just about everyone, at one point or another. The flirting was filed under 'Kuroba habit' and otherwise ignored.

No. It was everything _else_ that had it seem like Kuroba was at least half in love with Kudo. Unfortunately, he didn't know Kudo well enough to be able to tell if the sentiment was mutual, although so far, he doubted it.

He shook his head. There wasn't much he could do about any of that, and it didn't matter if he was finding himself a little concerned on Kuroba's behalf. Kid or not, he wouldn't wish heartbreak on _anyone_ , much less someone he would (very tentatively, and never aloud) label a friend.

Besides, Kuroba hadn't said anything of the sort. Maybe it would be better to assume not until told otherwise. There was no need to borrow trouble. (Especially when the trouble involved someone with _fangs._ )

 _xxxx_

"So. Are we telling them or telling them?" Kaito asked once they were safely back in the Kudo manor.

"It's my parents. We're telling them."

Kaito nodded, "And Ran?"

Shinichi winced. "I think… she needs the Hattori explanation. She's… his kind of honest."

Kaito sighed, "I'm sorry."

Shinichi shook his head, "It's better than the Conan thing, at any rate, and she still doesn't know about that. It's…"

Kaito nodded slightly, "Yeah. I know how that feels."

Shinichi nodded back, heading into the kitchen to put a kettle on to boil. The coming conversation would be easier over tea. Tea always calmed his mom down, a little.

"How long has it been since you've had your meds?" Kaito asked, trailing after him.

"Not since early this morning," Shinichi admitted, vaguely glad for the term Kaito had settled on. "I was planning on coming home for some anyway, but I think I'll wait until my parents get here, this time. Tou-san will want a look at it."

Kaito paused, "What does it taste like, anyway? You always seem happy enough with drinking it, but it _smells_ like blood…"

Shinichi grinned. He'd noticed the twitches, and now he wasn't going to tell. "You could always try it yourself, you know."

Kaito made a face, "I think I'm okay, thanks."

The front door opened and two familiar voices called 'Tadaima'.

Shinichi grimaced and poured fresh-boiled water over the tea leaves in the pot before gathering three cups and pointing Kaito (with the cups) through to the dining room. "In here," he called back. "Welcome home."

"Shin-chan!" his mother wailed, flinging herself in his direction.

Shinichi had to dodge, cradling the teapot in cautious hands, "Kaa-san, _hot tea._ "

She blinked, looked at him—and what he was holding—and flushed lightly. "Sorry, Shin-chan."

Kaito poked his head back into the kitchen, "Hello, Kudo-san," he greeted, "Kudo-san," he acknowledged Shinichi's father in the kitchen doorway, "Shin-shin, hand me that and let your mother have her hug. I'll grab yours."

Shinichi sighed and passed the teapot over, nodding to his father before letting his mother tackle him. "It's a long story, so…"

His father nodded slightly as his mother tried to crush the air out of his lungs. "We'd best get to it, then," Yuusaku half-asked.

Shinichi nodded, led them both into the dining room, and sat down to explain.

 _xxxx_


	19. Unexpected

.

 ** _(19)  
Unexpected_**

"All right, let's hear it," Yuusaku prompted once everyone but Shinichi was sitting with a cup of tea. Shinichi was sitting with a mug of an indistinguishably dark liquid, the color disguised by the brown-black of the ceramic's glaze.

Shinichi grimaced, glancing down at the mug in his hands, "So, just about the entire Tokyo PD has come to believe I'm a vampire."

Yuusaku blinked, glanced at his wife to see she was looking pretty startled, too, and decided that he must have _actually_ heard that. "… _why?_ "

Shinichi lifted his mug with a rueful expression, taking a gulp of the liquid therein. He licked a _very_ distinctive crimson from his lips and informed, "There is evidence supporting that theory."

Yukiko made a squawking sound, apparently beyond words.

Yuusaku scowled, "Hand over the mug."

Okay. That smelled very much like damp rust—like blood. He dipped the tip of one finger in it to test the consistency—sticky-slick, but too liquid to be anything but _very_ fresh, if it were blood. He examined the color again, shook his head, and pressed the tip of his finger to his tongue.

He paused.

Kaito looked interested.

"You know," Yuusaku said carefully, "I thought we had similar taste in beverages, Shinichi. Which leads me to ask: do you actually _like_ this?"

Shinichi reached out and gestured for the mug back with a scowl, holding it in protective hands when Yuusaku obliged him. Kaito sat back with a pout, muttering something about being vague.

"It helps," he informed. "Haibara developed it to address the repeated deficiencies—my body keeps burning through certain minerals and proteins way too quickly, since the antidote. My immune system kept crashing, and my cell division speed is apparently bizarrely off. She made that, said it has the same chemical breakdown as human blood, and promptly insinuated that she turned me into a vampire."

"That was _after_ the Kid Taskforce started thinking that," Kaito informed, a little mischievous but mostly looking like he was trying to cover up something darker.

Yuusaku raised both eyebrows, quelling his wife with a quick warning glance. "I think I would like an actual explanation."

"He got shot through the right lung in front of Kid and the 'force," Kaito's smile dropped.

Ah. And he was pretty sure who the current 'Kid' was, which… _wait_. "Shinichi? _Shot?_ "

Shinichi sighed, "Wasn't the first time," he muttered sourly before sighing and explaining properly.

And that—okay, he could see how 'vampire' came up, and why they were encouraging it. But… it sounded like Shinichi had been _badly_ injured more than once in the past month, the kind of 'badly' that meant long-term recovery periods if one managed to survive at all.

Which begged the question: "Are you _sure_ you're not a vampire?"

Shinichi shrugged dismissively.

Kaito smirked, "Of course he is! He needs to drink blood, he heals _wayyyy_ too quickly to be normal, and he's started getting a bit light-sensitive. Doesn't that sound like a vampire to you?"

"It's not blood, Kaito," Shinichi grumbled.

"Science-san calls it 'SynthBlood," Kaito pointed out, too cheerful. "She has explained the chemical breakdown and said real blood would work just as well if not _better._ Do explain how 'not blood' is a valid defense."

So. Shinichi was _effectively_ a vampire. Okay then. _Not_ what he'd been expecting.

Yukiko apparently couldn't take it anymore, "Oh, Shin-chan," she wailed, scrambling up to launch herself around the table. (Kaito prudently snatched Shinichi's mug to a safe distance.)

Shinichi grunted as his mother landed on him in a strangling hug, "My poor baby's a _vampire!_ "

"Your 'poor baby'," he managed, gently wrestling Yukiko into a less strangling position, "would like to point out that he would be dead at least twice over if not for the horror-story symptoms, so it isn't like it's really a bad thing."

Yeah, Yuusaku had been trying not to think about that part. Although… "Horror-story symptoms? What a description."

"I know, right?" Kaito grinned brightly, "And he's _terrible_ about remembering half the time, and I'm starting to get calls from the police when they don't know what to do with him! I've somehow become Division One's 'go to' guy for vampire problems!"

"Shut up, Kaito," Shinichi scowled over his mother's head at the other young man.

Thinking of… "Kuroba Kaito, what are you intentions towards my son?"

Shinichi blinked at him, "What?"

Kaito, on the other hand, just about fell off his chair. " _Intentions?_ Keeping him from getting himself killed and/or locked in a lab would be nice, but somehow I don't think that's what you're asking."

"There was a sentence that sounded very much like 'You can bite me anytime' at the tail end of Shinichi's conversation with Ran," Yuusaku reminded.

Shinichi blinked again, "You were there, then. I realized she had it on speaker, but I thought she just needed her hands. Kaito flirts. I'm not sure he knows how _not_ to."

Kaito blushed. "Ah. Well. Usually I don't mean it?"

It was Shinichi's turn to pause and twist to look. "… 'usually'?"

"I don't know!" Kaito flung his hands up, frazzled. "You're the only one who can keep up with me! Except when you're _winning,_ and then _I'm_ the one three steps behind!"

"Huh," Shinichi thought about that while Yukiko's cling shifted to hide a devious look from her son and what was starting to sound more like 'potential boyfriend' than actual boyfriend. "Okay, then."

Kaito blinked, "Okay?"

Shinichi nodded, "Okay. It's not like I haven't been sleeping better when you're somewhere in the house."

Yuusaku froze, frowning. "Shinichi? Why haven't you been sleeping?"

Shinichi shrugged, "I think it's the quiet, honestly. I'm not having nightmares or trouble _getting_ to sleep or anything, I just… I keep waking up thinking something's wrong. Then I realize where I am, and go back to sleep—but it's a repeating cycle. When Kaito's here, there's a little more noise."

So, not what he'd feared. But… well, that sounded like… like repercussions for being used to noise. Like a repercussion from being _Conan._

Then again, the vampire thing probably was, too.

Still. "Is there anything your mother and I can do?"

Shinichi shrugged, "Not that I can think of, aside from… well. Kaito's right about the vest, and he needs one, too. His doesn't fit him, and trying to self-adjust bulletproof materials isn't easy, and if it's done wrong…"

Yuusaku raised both eyebrows, that time. "Are you _abetting_ Kaitou Kid?"

"Only where the snipers are concerned," Shinichi informed. "Otherwise, I like making his heists difficult."

Well. It wasn't like Yuusaku hadn't turned a blind eye to Kid outside actual heists, and even _during,_ he turned a blind eye to Toichi _._ Not _Kid,_ but Toichi. "We'll need your measurements."

Shinichi nodded, "I can probably get Haibara to give you my medical file, too, if it would make you feel better."

Yuusaku considered and grimaced, "I get the feeling that it wouldn't."

Shinichi acknowledged the point. "So. Should I start dinner or…?"

"We're going out," Yukiko declared, letting go of her son. "Kai-chan is coming, too. It'll be like a double-date!"

Shinichi groaned and Kaito blushed.

Hm. Toichi's boy really did have a crush on his son, and Shinichi didn't seem to mind. How interesting.

How _very_ interesting.

(Much later that night, they got another explanation from Haibara-san that was far more medical but no less strange. She also took it upon herself to explain Shinichi's reasoning for going with the not-quite-misconception, which he very much hadn't done himself. She was… resigned to but not ungrateful for his reasoning, and it was just so _Shinichi_ to protect someone even if it required such a ridiculous half-truth that Yuusaku couldn't even disapprove. Now, if only he could decide how he felt about his godson crushing on his son.)

 _xxxx_


	20. Predictable

_Because, as they say: When it rains, it pours._

 _(Also because I'm feeling pretty okay at the moment, so I can write a bit.)_

 ** _(20)  
Predictable_**

Ran wasn't sure what to expect from Shinichi when he showed up at Poirot. She half expected him to have either his… boyfriend? or one or both of his parents with him, but he didn't. He _did_ look a little stressed, and the way he eyed the others in the café made her think that maybe it would be best to just take her treat upstairs to talk in a less public setting.

She'd ordered coffee for him, and her own plate and mug were ceramic, but everyone who worked there knew her and knew she lived right up the stairs. It wouldn't be a problem to bring the dishes back later, and she knew it. So she picked up her plate and gestured for Shinichi to take the mugs. "We can talk in the office, if you want. Dad's still asleep—he didn't get home until nearly five this morning."

Shinichi nodded but didn't say anything, looking more nervous than she was accustomed to. Ran bit her lip, trying not to frown. Shinichi wasn't acting like his normal self at _all,_ though he offered Takagi and Sato a brief nod of acknowledgement as they walked into Poirot even as she and Shinichi were leaving.

Whatever this was about, it was big.

(She just hoped it wasn't as big as the case that had driven him to hide for four years. He still hadn't told her everything about that and she knew it, but she was fairly sure what he hadn't told her had something to do with how ill he'd been every time she'd seen him. He'd collapsed more than once, always clutching at his chest in obvious pain, and had refused the hospital again and again. She wasn't stupid. After hearing he'd worked with the FBI, she knew that whatever had been wrong with him, it was more dangerous for him to be hospitalized than to go back to whatever safe house he must have been working out of at those times. That he hadn't told her, that he didn't _want_ her to know—it had to have been bad.

She wasn't sure she _wanted_ to know, and that the FBI had taken Conan into their witness protection program after the main takedown and Shinichi's name getting leaked… well. She knew he was still in danger, he _had_ to be, but not as much as a child would be. She hated that she wouldn't speak to Conan again, but if it was for his safety, she could handle it. She at least knew that Shinichi would be told if something happened.

 _Something_ obviously had, but she didn't think it was about Conan. This was… this was… she didn't _know_ what this was.)

When Shinichi set her mug on the low table between the couches in front of her plate and sat across from her, she frowned at him. "Shinichi?"

He opened his mouth and hesitated, clearly not sure what to say.

Ran _froze._ There was—there was something wrong with Shinichi's _teeth._ They looked—longer _._ _Sharp._

"Don't freak out, Ran," Shinichi half-begged. "I didn't want to tell you because… I don't want you to be scared of me."

And, okay, she was going to pass it off as one of Yukiko's stunts that left _repercussions_ , but the way Shinichi said that… "Shinichi, what…"

"Something happened over those two days I was missing," he reached up to run a hand through his hair in his agitation, "I'm still missing pieces, but… they caught the men who killed me. They killed someone else, too, so they've even been arrested for more than just assault, because…"

Something cold settled into Ran's chest, "Shinichi. _Killed?_ "

Shinichi didn't answer directly, "…because we can't exactly tell court I'm some kind of vampire."

"That's not funny, Shinichi," Ran snapped, because vampires _didn't exist._ (They couldn't, they _couldn't_ , and _Shinichi_ couldn't be one.)

Shinichi wasn't laughing. "Believe me," he said roughly, "I _know._ "

Ran scowled harder, an angry denial on her lips, but Shinichi cut her off. "Ran, just… go ask Takagi to come up for a few minutes, okay? Or Sato, or both, if you want. But… just… I can't, okay? I _can't._ "

Caught between anger and fear, Ran did as she was told. Takagi-keiji looked worried at the request, sent a help-me look to Sato, and both officers told their waitress they'd be back in a few minutes.

When they got back in the office, Takagi took one look at Shinichi and winced. "Kudo-kun? Should I call Kuroba-san?"

Shinichi shook his head, "He's busy. I just—Ran doesn't believe me, but I can't just… and I didn't want her to _start_ believing me without someone else in the room; you know she hates this kind of thing."

Ran hesitated, suddenly much more worried than angry. That was only reinforced when Sato echoed Takagi's wince, "You're sane, though. And you haven't hurt anyone, even if you did leave finger imprints in that interrogation room's table."

Shinichi shook his head, "I—I just, it gets worse when I'm stressed, I _know_ Kaito asked Megure to talk to you guys about this, and I have a packet on me, but…"

"But you didn't want to pull that out in front of Mouri-chan," Takagi shook his head, "I think maybe I _should_ call Kuroba-san, Kudo-kun. If he can't come, he can at least talk for a moment. That helped when…"

Shinichi grimaced, "Shucho?"

Sato coughed, "Didn't he, uh… _kill_ you, though? I don't think Ran-san is that level of stress."

Okay. It was sounding like—like Shinichi was telling the truth. If he _was_ telling the truth, though… Ran swallowed, feeling a bit faint.

Shinichi flinched _._ "You know what? I'll just leave. I think Ran needs to get used to the idea on her own."

Takagi made as if to protest, but Shinichi was already halfway to the door, one fang glinting as he glanced back at them. "Ran. Call me when you're ready. Until then…"

He was gone. Just like that.

 _Vampire._ But… _Shinichi._

Maybe he was right. Maybe she _did_ need to sort this out without him there. She shivered, "Thank you, Takagi-keiji, Sato-san. I… I need to think about this. Just… is this safe?"

Takagi blinked at her, "It's _Kudo-kun._ Just because his dietary requirements have been forcibly altered doesn't make him any less himself."

Ran nodded, drawing a deep breath and letting it out. "Thank you," she repeated, steadier. "I still need to think this through, but… thank you."

 _xxxx_

Kaito found himself let into the Kudo mansion by a gleeful-looking Yukiko as he got back from class—his hours were, while not erratic, unusual. He had opted to take as many online as he could, despite his rather outgoing nature. Aoko and Nakamori-keibu had encouraged that choice for his potential classmates' sakes. This meant his only actual in-class hours were late evening on Wednesdays and morning to late afternoon on Mondays.

That left him unable to back Shinichi up the _one_ _day_ he really needed it. Not that he hadn't offered anyway, but Shinichi had told him not to miss class.

Of course, he expected Shinichi to head straight home after meeting with Ran if at all possible, but Shinichi's luck meant there was a good chance it wouldn't be. When he'd gotten there and Yukiko-nee-san (he knew better than to call her 'baa-san'; his childhood meeting with her had left an _impression_ ) let him in and said that Shinichi wasn't home yet, Kaito's first impulse was to call.

He quelled it before actually hitting 'send', because if Shinichi _was_ on a case, he didn't want to be a distraction. If Shinichi wanted or needed help, he would probably ask for it. He'd asked for Kid's help when he needed it before, he wasn't too prideful for that. Still, the wait made him antsy and Yukiko went and disappeared deeper into the house, leaving him in the library with a cup of tea.

He scowled down at said cup and settled in to wait.

(He _hated_ waiting when something might be wrong.)

 _xxxx_

Shinichi tried very hard not to snarl as he stalked into the police office—between Haibara and Kaito, he had been thoroughly coached in sounding and acting a bit more feral over the last few weeks, and it was actually becoming a _habit_ —wanting _very badly_ to be through with the day.

Two unrelated murder cases in less than three hours, plus an attempted kidnapping that he had quite happily thwarted with his 'supernatural strength', shattering the barrel of the would-be kidnapper's gun (a modified metal model, probably wouldn't have lasted more than three shots anyway before it shattered on its own from the strain, but no shots was better than three by a very wide margin). Still, his palm had been badly burned and if not for his weird healing factor, he would have been more than annoyed as he shoved open Division One's bullpen door.

As it was, he was _hungry,_ Kaito wasn't there to act as a buffer between him and the idiots, and the packet he'd had with him was for normal maintenance, _not_ post-healing and definitely not post high-stress conversation _and_ healing, no matter how minor the healing was (and he'd gone through it over an hour before).

Why, _why_ did it have to be _today?_ He felt bad enough after the not-conversation with Ran, which had gone—poorly, to say the least. Her fear hadn't been unexpected, but stung no less for that. But. It was safer for her to not have the _whole_ story.

For Haibara, anyway. Ran really was the same kind of honest as Hattori, and he wouldn't risk Haibara's safety just to keep Ran from being nervous around him.

(He _hated_ lying, and it was only that it wasn't— _quite_ —lying that kept him from being more frustrated and upset than he already was.)

Just to top things off, the officers he was most comfortable with overall—namely, Takagi and Sato—were on a specific assignment that had them completely occupied, which meant he'd had to deal with others. While he was almost as comfortable with Megure and Chiba, he'd had the poor fortune to be stuck with Shiratori (yes, the man paid much more attention to Kudo Shinichi's words than he had to Edogawa Conan, but he couldn't help but be mildly annoyed every time he saw him anyway) and some of the division newbies, all of whom were so jumpy around him that he was about three seconds from baring his fangs and snarling at them just to get them away.

(He was well aware that would only reinforce their fear and Shiratori was almost as bad as the newbies for twitchiness in Shinichi's immediate vicinity.)

Every officer in the room got out of the way as he stalked towards Megure's office, but he was going to give a verbal report and _go home._ If the man asked him to do paperwork, he was going to give a resounding 'no' and go home anyway _._ He was so _through_ with this day.

Fortunately for everyone in the general vicinity, Megure took one look at him and frowned in concern, "Kudo-kun, I don't think you need to be here right now; why don't I take you home? You can give me a basic report on the way and come in some other time to file the paperwork."

Shinichi took a slow breath, closed his eyes, and nodded. "That is a very good idea," he informed, voice controlled. "If I run into one more case today, I'm going to be _very_ inclined to stop being _careful_."

Megure winced slightly, and the officers blatantly eavesdropping at the door edged away. "Ah. Well, we'll do our best to avoid that, then. Is there anything you need aside from the ride? You don't look particularly well."

Shinichi huffed, irritation fading into simple exhaustion. "I've had a very bad day and I'm starving _,_ possibly literally. I really just need to go home."

Megure nodded, clearly even more concerned but thankfully not _scared._ "Let's go, then. I don't usually drive, but Chiba is on break so you'll have to suffer through having me behind the wheel."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Remember my mother? I don't see your driving being a problem."

Megure acknowledged the point and Shinichi had to be grateful that they managed to get him home with no further incidents.

He needed some peace. (He hoped that Kaito had been comfortable enough with the fact that his parents were home to come over. It might not be the usual definition of 'peace', but Kaito's presence had always been somewhat reassuring, even when it also brought mass amounts of annoyance and chaos. Well, except maybe the first time, when he hadn't actually _met_ him and didn't know anything about him. And _possibly_ the third, when he'd not been sure whether or not Kid had left Ran naked somewhere and hadn't dared risk the answer being 'yes'. He could only _imagine_ the bloodshed if Ran had woken up naked in front of strangers. The thought still made him cringe.

The second, though, short as it had been—Kid had _felt_ safe. Bright, taunting, but _safe._ And after the day he'd had, Shinichi could _really_ use a bit of 'safe'.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito was at the door as soon as it opened and immediately took in Shinichi's expression, thanked Megure-keibu for delivering his apparently quite stressed detective (he was _hours_ later than Kaito had hoped, and only a short text of 'case' had quelled his worry—at least until the second, far more concerning text of 'another case' barely an hour after the first, then a third of 'attempted kidnapping, running damage control' had him texting back a generic question mark. Shinichi's reply of 'I'll be home soon' had been a clear enough way of saying it was all right, but Kaito was pretty sure he wasn't going to be taking a text as reassurance next time. And the fact that he was thinking 'next time' instead of 'if it happened again' said a lot about Shinichi's luck.)

"Hey, Shinichi? You okay?" he asked, even before Megure had left the doorstep, seeing pain-lines around his detective's eyes.

" _Starving._ Packet didn't last well enough—got burned."

Kaito winced. "Go, sit. I'll get you a meal. Thanks again, Keibu-san, but I can handle it from here."

Megure nodded, "Take care of him, Kuroba-kun. Kudo-kun? Take a break. Don't come in tomorrow—the paperwork can wait a day."

Shinichi nodded tiredly as Megure left and immediately went along with Kaito's herding him into the kitchen and pointedly nudging him towards the table. The fact that there were no protests and Shinichi actually _did_ drop straight into a chair as instructed had Kaito biting his lip as he mixed up a mug of SynthBlood and pushed it into Shinichi's hands before turning to heat up some actual food.

"… Do you want to talk about it?"

Shinichi shook his head, "Not until I've eaten and slept. I'm too tired to think straight right now."

Kaito frowned again, turning to examine Shinichi more closely. He was looking a little better, sitting and having... already finished his mug. One was probably enough, so long as he ate a good meal, though, so Kaito continued his stovetop reheating. The pain-lines around Shinichi's eyes weren't as pronounced, which was something.

"Burn?" he prompted, not willing to leave physical injury unchecked.

"And some cuts, but it's healed up. The would-be kidnapper had a model gun that had been altered to act as a real gun. The barrels on those don't last more than a couple shots unless they're reinforced between, but I grabbed it and crushed it just as he pulled the trigger. Second degree burns and a few cuts—he has the same, but it burned through the packet I'd had with me pretty quick, near as I can tell. At least no one was killed during that little mess."

"Other injuries?" Kaito asked, shifting the pan off the hot part of the stove and moving over to pull out a couple plates.

Shinichi shook his head, "The kidnapper's hand was the worst aside from mine, but even he'll be fine in a week or so. He'll have some scars on his hand, but cosmetic damage only, and not even serious for that."

"And you're sure you're all right?"

Shinichi held up his hand, showing the red of burn-scarring mottling his palm, fingers, and part of his wrist. "It's getting there. Doesn't hurt anymore, and the cuts are entirely healed. Just the scars left."

Kaito hissed in sympathy, sliding one plate in front of Shinichi and setting the other directly across from him before leaning across the table to take the injured hand between careful fingers. Some gentle prodding showed no nerve damage and no pain, so he nodded and sat, letting Shinichi have his hand back so he could pick up the chopsticks Kaito provided with a puff of smoke.

Shinichi rolled his eyes, a smile quirking the side of his mouth. Kaito knew he'd been seen through, but Shinichi was smiling, so that was all right.

"Eat your food. Then a nap. Then you can vent about your day all you want."

Shinichi's smile turned a little less reluctant. "Right. Don't let me sleep more than an hour and a half. I'm _trying_ to get a normal sleep-schedule on board."

Kaito smiled back, "Your parents are here—or you mom is, anyway. I haven't seen your dad, but I think he's somewhere in this labyrinth you call a house. Your mom disappeared into the depths after greeting me at the door and I haven't seen hide or hair of her since, either. I can see why there are rumors of this place being haunted."

"Tou-san's probably holed up in his lair working on his latest novel," Shinichi looked down at his clean plate contemplatively, and Kaito swiped it to get him seconds. Even if he wasn't _actively_ still hungry, the detective was a bit underweight and could stand to eat more, _especially_ with how fast he was burning through what he _did_ eat. (Or drink, as the case might be.)

Shinichi rolled his eyes but continued as though the interruption hadn't happened, picking his chopsticks back up to take bites between sentences. "If Kaa-san didn't go out the back way, she's probably asleep. She'll terrorize the town tonight if she is."

"… Terrorize?" Shinichi didn't even say that about _him._

"It's _Kaa-san._ "

… Okay, so Kaito _had_ met her and found her a little intimidating, but he was _sure_ he was missing some of the story, here. "You're going to have to elaborate on that one someday."

"She knocked me out with chloroform and kidnapped me while I was Conan and roped Tou-san and Agasa-hakase into playing along as though they were part of the Organization. It took me a bit to realize what was happening."

Okay. If _that_ was an example of his mother's schemes, Kaito was starting to see why he tended to take Kid's antics in stride. "Yeah, okay. You, go nap. I'm going to be setting up defensive measures around your room."

That got a laugh, and it was obvious Shinichi knew he didn't mean it. "Make sure it's nothing that will stain and she might even congratulate you if you get her. She'll _definitely_ give you chocolate if you get Tou-san."

Hm. This warranted _testing._

 _xxxx_


	21. Expected

_Short and filler-ish. Also, shippy. Obviously so. Have fun._

 ** _(21)  
Expected_**

Shinichi was less than surprised when Kaito really did trap the house. He _was_ a bit surprised when his father walked into one of said traps and ended up hanging from the library ceiling in much the same way Nakamori and half the Taskforce had on the last heist—huh, Kid hadn't held one in a while, had he? He'd mention that to Kaito, they did _not_ want Snake's crew starting to look for civilian identities. Not when he already had the Kuroba family in his memory.

Then again, it was their house. The idea of keeping an eye out for traps probably hadn't crossed his mind. Though Shinichi did so on habit with Kaito around—he'd dodged around two, one of which was the one he was going to have to extricate his father from, as his mother was going to be no help, giggling off to the side.

She hadn't realized she was about half a step from the other trap Shinichi had absently stepped around, and while she wasn't going to end up hanging in a net, she was likely going to be a bit put out by the amount of glitter she would have to get out of her hair. Shinichi was really not inclined to warn her.

Shinichi sighed and side-eyed Kaito, who was cringing off to the _other_ side (Shinichi's father hadn't even said anything, his look was so incredibly unimpressed that he didn't have to), "Recycling tricks? Shame on you."

Kaito cringed more, "Um. To be completely fair, I didn't think that would work. It didn't work on you the first time!"

"It didn't work on me the second, either," Shinichi pointed out, moving over to the release setup hidden behind one of the bookcases. "but Tou-san isn't used to having to watch his step in his own home. Neither is Kaa-san," he added as an afterthought right as his mother tipped a little sideways in her giggling, promptly tripping the glitter-trap.

His father snorted at his mother's surprised sputtering squawk, and finally both parents were smiling, though only Yukiko was choking on laughter (and glitter. _Lots_ of glitter.)

Kaito dared come closer to help disentangle his godfather, and Yuusaku chuckled and shook his head, "Do you do this often?"

"Hakuba has _horror stories_ about his classroom antics during high school. I seem to recall something about desks on the ceiling?"

Kaito grinned, "Oh, yeah. That was a good one."

(Ten minutes later, Shinichi was proven right. Yukiko really did dig out a bar of chocolate from her 'stores' and give it to Kaito for getting Yuusaku. Slightly unexpectedly, Yuusaku congratulated him on a well-laid set of traps and getting his wife to look more sparkly than usual. Obviously, Shinichi's parents were nuts. Not that he hadn't already _known_ that, having been subject to their antics many times over the years, but it seemed like Kaito fit right in with his family's crazy.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito was relieved. Shinichi's parents were his kind of crazy, apparently, and that made Shinichi's easy tolerance of his antics much more understandable. Not that Shinichi wasn't a patient person—he _was,_ even if he'd been forced by shrinkage to learn that patience—but the 'easy' part hadn't initially made sense.

Kaito had been glad for it, of course, but it still hadn't made sense. Even Aoko, who had been dealing with him for the better part of her life, didn't take his stunts in stride as easily as Shinichi had from the first day. Actually, Shinichi hadn't just taken them in stride—he'd seen through them and turned things around on Kaito more than once.

It had been _challenging._ There wasn't much that challenged him, and it had been (and still was) a thrill to find a lone person that could. Kaito was admittedly less than surprised by the fact that he'd developed a crush fairly rapidly. He wasn't stupid or oblivious—he'd been aware of the building fascination directed at the apparent child called Edogawa Conan even before he'd learned the truth behind the disguise. Of course, then, he's just been interested and entertained.

After he'd learned it was Shinichi… well, the fascination had grown. How did a teenager so effectively become a child? Kid had been able to disguise as one, but only under controlled circumstances and only very temporarily.

(When Shinichi had told him it had been poison _,_ one meant to literally destroy his body _entirely,_ and that it had been a freak miracle that he'd survived… Well. That fascination had turned to horror. He was glad he hadn't known that, before Shinichi was his right size again.)

As time went on, he'd grown almost enamored with the mind able to match his own, to push him to _improve,_ to corner and harry him. He'd been crushing on that part of Shinichi for _years_.

When Shinichi had shown up at his heist full-sized and snarking, he'd almost done a double-take. He shouldn't have bothered to stop himself, as Shinichi had picked him out of the officers so fast he'd barely had _time_ to stop himself before the soccer ball was headed his way. It's not like it would have made Shinichi recognize him any faster _._ Might even have bought him a few more seconds, since Shinichi was used to his Kaitou KID persona being fairly unruffleable.

So, yeah. He'd realized his fascination had turned to romantic interest, that he'd developed a still-growing crush on the Heisei Holmes. He'd thanked Hotei and Inari and Hermes (because Hermes was the god of travelers, thieves, and deception) that Shinichi was kind of dense when it came to people having any kind of romantic interest in him.

Although, from what Shinichi had said to his father, he'd assumed Kaito's flirting was just his normal flirting. Which—okay, yeah, it really kind of was _._ He hadn't _intended_ to flirt with Shinichi, after all. But… sometimes it was just flirting, and sometimes the things he _meant_ slipped into that flirting.

That Shinichi had accepted that admission with an 'okay' was… a relief. Shinichi was okay with Kaito liking him. That was… that was better than he'd expected, actually. Of course, he wasn't sure Shinichi liked him back _,_ but it was clear that Shinichi appreciated his presence, and that was a start.

So. Kaito was relieved. Aoko _had_ liked him, and he'd thought he liked her—maybe he had, once upon a time. But KID had buried any dreams there in deep, deep graves with secrets and lies. And Shinichi… he may not have _told_ Shinichi everything until very recently, but he hadn't lied to him, either. The secrets were such as Shinichi could have unearthed at any time, if he'd chosen to.

(Also, Shinichi knew who he was without Kaito having told him, so he probably _had_ unearthed those secrets before keeping them for Kaito. That was… equal parts scary and heartwarming, actually. Shinichi was keeping his secrets, but Shinichi had dug them up first, with hardly anything to go on. If Kaito were the kind of criminal who got on Shinichi's bad side, he'd be terrified. As it was, he was just incredibly glad he wasn't _._ )

Maybe he should have expected that Shinichi would be okay with it, though. He seemed to be one of the least judgmental people in the world. (Any kind of harmful criminal was treated harshly, but he didn't actually seem judgmental about it. Just straightforwardly dedicated to 'your actions have consequences, deal with them.' Even killers, he was compassionate towards, though he certainly didn't come close to _agreeing_ with them. Or understanding, from the look of it. If there was one thing Kaito could never imagine Shinichi as, it was a killer. He just didn't understand the concept on a personal level, to the point that he _did_ save people who were trying to kill him, or at least try to.)

Then again, there was 'okay with the concept of you being interested in the same gender' and 'okay with you being interested in me'. The one was significantly more expected than the other. The other had _implications._ Mainly that Shinichi might not like him back, but he at least thought that maybe he could.

Kaito cracked a smile, tipping back to stare up at the ceiling from the top of the—extremely tall—bookshelf he'd perched on. The Kudo library was bigger than a small town's public library, and had shelves that required ladders! (It also had ladders, but that was really just reinforcing the sheer size of the place. If he really wanted to, he could probably set up a futon across the top of one of the shelf units and sleep up there without falling off.)

He'd have been okay with Shinichi not being entirely comfortable with Kaito's crush. Not _happy,_ but okay, because he knew that Shinichi wouldn't let that bother him forever as long as Kaito didn't do anything too over-the-top. This, though, _this_ he was pleased with. Relieved for. Happy about. If Shinichi was the kind of okay he seemed, Kaito had a good shot at winning him over entirely.

He paused, blinking. Had—no way. Had the little scientist picked up on that? She'd been sending him after Shinichi since not long after she'd met him, smirking that evil little smirk and finding reasons to have him deliver things or go check up on Shinichi in person.

That was _subtle._

Kaito might just be impressed if that's what she was doing. He was going to have to pay more attention to the mini-scientist when he and Shinichi were both directly within her sphere of influence—he didn't have anything concrete, just a vague suspicion. He really wanted to know, now.

(It also would mean he didn't have to look for her approval, because if she was trying to set them up, she obviously approved. She was _much_ scarier than Shinichi's parents. And the parents seemed to approve, too. Bonus!)

 _xxxx_


	22. Realization

_A quiet day_ _ **...**_ _for given values of the term. Also, I am mostly well, and the next chapter of Lucid Dreams is almost finished. Be happy.  
_

 ** _(22)  
Realization_**

Shinichi hadn't quite decided how he felt about the situation at hand. After seeing Kaito—sometimes as Kid, sometimes as Kaito—hit on _Hakuba,_ Shinichi had rather thought the flirting was just a default state of social interactions when it came to the magician.

(By Kaito's own implied admission, that wasn't far from the truth, and Shinichi was merely an exception to that general rule.)

So. Kaito liked him romantically _._ That was… not _bad,_ but… he didn't really know how he felt about it. So while Kaito lounged somewhere in the library that no one else would ever bother to sit, much less 'lounge', Shinichi took the time for a hot soak and thinking.

Of everyone he'd ever known, Ran was the only one he'd liked. Or _thought_ he'd liked, because she'd moved on, and his feelings hadn't really changed or lessened, but it didn't bother him that she had someone else. So, maybe it had been 'thought', because he'd grown up with her and everyone they knew had expected them to grow up and fall in love and get married. And he cared, so maybe he'd just mistaken 'sister' for 'crush' because he didn't know first-hand what a crush was.

Then again, if that was the case, he still didn't know what a crush was. He didn't want to break anyone's heart, much less _Kaito's_ ; if absolutely nothing else, Kaito was a friend.

So. How he felt about Kaito. Kaito was… he was ridiculous and crazy and utterly brilliant, with all the intelligence to match his that Moriarty had held standing against Holmes, and none of the malice. He was a steady ally and a caring hand.

Did Shinichi like Kaito the way Kaito liked him?

He didn't think so. Not yet _,_ anyway. He thought maybe he could _,_ though, if he let himself. And… well, Kaito wasn't going anywhere, given the choice. He'd made that quite clear. Which meant that Kaito was as safe a person to fall for as there was—accidents or assassins notwithstanding. He _could_ let himself.

But… well, he wasn't entirely sure how this sort of thing went, aside from hearsay and romance stories (books, movies, etc.) that Ran and/or (usually 'and') Sonoko roped him into, one way or another. Those were usually ridiculous and unrealistic, so he wasn't going to be using any of them as guidelines. He'd just have to take things as they came.

Shinichi sighed, absently tonguing a fang as he got ready for bed. All this could wait until morning. It had been a long day, despite the nap earlier. He was tired _._

He could figure the rest out _after_ he'd gotten some sleep.

 _xxxx_

Kaito hadn't really meant to end up spending the night, but it had been late and Yuusaku had just given him the _eyebrow_ when he'd made to leave. He'd meekly gone to the main guest room, where he'd actually spent a fair number of recent nights. He was tempted to set himself up there (because living with Shinichi) semi-permanently (because the KID workshop wasn't exactly portable. He'd never thought that would be a _problem_ ).

Well. As the first one up, it was his job to secure breakfast! (Actually, no, probably not. He was technically a guest. Still, he wanted food and Shinichi had a bad habit of not eating properly that was even worse in the mornings. So. Yeah, that had a lot to do with how often he'd been spending the night. This time, he'd kind of thought Shinichi's mother could handle that, but then he'd re-met the lady and started to think that she shouldn't be allowed near the kitchen. She gave that impression somehow.)

One mug of fake blood, a large pot of coffee (Shinichi and Yuusaku? _Very_ large pot), and a western-style breakfast of omelets, bacon, and toast (because it was quicker and lacked finny things) and he went to root Shinichi out of bed.

One look and he changed his mind. Shinichi wasn't the heaviest sleeper. The fact that he hadn't woken the instant his door opened was pretty telling, and he was curled on his side, managing to look tired even while sleeping.

But he hadn't eaten in a while, and Scary-science-san had given very strict instructions on that.

Kaito considered, stepping back into the hall and closing Shinichi's door quietly. Which was more important, food or sleep?

Well. Megure-keibu _had_ told Shinichi to take the day off, and if coffee was not provided, he'd probably go back to sleep after being fed. So. Food first.

He still didn't want to get Shinichi up, though.

Kaito headed back down to the kitchen, intent on finding a tray, and instead finding both of Shinichi's parents eying the food like they were trying to decide if it was a trap or not. Kaito very carefully did not grin.

"Mealtimes are safe, promise!"

Yuusaku twitched and Yukiko outright jumped. "Kaito," Yuusaku greeted. "Dare I ask?"

"Shinichi doesn't eat properly unless he's prompted."

Yukiko nodded at that, "He's got a point, dear," she teased.

"If this was done with Shinichi in mind, where is my son?" Yuusaku asked.

"I didn't want to wake him," Kaito admitted. "He looks tired. Yukiko-nee, is there a tray? I need to bully him into eating something _,_ but I don't want to make him get up."

"You're bringing him breakfast in bed?" Yukiko pulled open a cupboard even while giving a dramatic pout in her husband's direction, "Yuu-chan! Why don't _you_ ever do sweet things like that?"

Kaito blinked, then blushed a little. He was being all _domestic._ He couldn't really regret it, though, because Shinichi was sleeping and had been looking so much less worn down since he'd started staying nights and bringing him food (or SynthBlood) during the day.

Oh. He hadn't introduced Shinichi to Aoko. He was pretty sure Nakamori-keibu knew Shinichi on a similar level to how he knew Hakuba—he'd spoken to the man while disguised as Shinichi more than once, and Shinichi-as-Conan knew just about every police inspector in Japan. He wondered what either of the Nakamoris would do if he introduced Shinichi as his boyfriend.

Which, okay. He wasn't. Kaito hadn't even really asked, and he got the distinct feeling that Shinichi wasn't going to.

Well. That was a plan for sometime that day, he decided, taking the tray Yukiko managed to locate and plating food to bring up to Shinichi's room, making sure to get enough for both of them. He hummed thoughtfully as he headed up the stairs after assuring the elder Kudos that the remaining food was meant for them, trying to decide a method of asking. Shinichi might say 'no' on principle if he went too over-the-top, but would probably start checking for imposters if he didn't do something at least a little sappy.

Huh. Like breakfast in bed.

Kaito grinned and opened Shinichi's door, balancing the tray with one had and entering like a normal person. He could work with this.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi had vaguely heard the door open, then close, but he was pretty sure it had been Kaito and hadn't bothered to wake up enough to do more than register the sound.

The second time he heard the door open was accompanied by the smell of bacon, egg, and the iron-tang of his SynthBlood. He rolled onto his back, reluctant to open his eyes. He felt slow and groggy, and didn't really want to move.

He then heard his alarm clock get shifted aside and what sounded like a tray of some kind slide onto his nightstand, then the edge of his bed dipped down.

Definitely Kaito. His mom would have pounced on him and his dad would have said something by now. And neither of his parents were too likely to have brought him breakfast unless they thought he was sick, in which case it would definitely not contain eggs or bacon.

He stubbornly kept his eyes closed.

There was a sudden warm and slightly damp pressure against the tip of his nose, accompanied by an exaggerated "Mwa!" and he blinked his eyes open to stare at a grinning and too-close face.

"Did you just kiss me on the nose?"

The grin widened.

"I'm not actually a little kid, you know."

Kaito shifted a little further back, "I don't know. It seems like just a couple months ago that you were eight."

Shinichi glanced at the tray of breakfast—looked as good as it smelled, which meant Kaito had made it—judged the angle, and swung his pillow.

Kaito promptly got a face-full of feather-stuffed cotton.

"Waa!" he tipped off the bed, had a fraction of a second to look genuinely startled, and hit the floor with a thump.

Shinichi took the moment to sit up and leaned over to make sure Kaito was alive and undamaged. "You deserved that."

Kaito laughed, getting up only to plop himself back on the edge of the bed, "Will you go out with me?"

Shinichi considered the question only briefly, "Ask me when I'm more awake," he instructed. He'd already decided to say 'yes', but Kaito would be second-guessing himself until later with Shinichi so groggy. He knew full well that Kaito could tell how tired he was—there's no way Kaito would have brought him breakfast if he hadn't looked as exhausted as he felt.

At least, not without some kind of occasion, and while Shinichi couldn't say with absolute certainty that he hadn't forgotten one, he was _fairly_ sure it wasn't his birthday or anything nationally recognized.

Kaito dipped his head, offering a rueful smile. "Here," he didn't press the subject, instead pulling over the tray and passing Shinichi an omelet and chopsticks. "Eat, then get some more sleep. Megure-keibu told you to take the day off."

That was true. Of course, about the only way he'd _get_ that day off was if he stayed home, but that didn't actually sound like a bad idea. "What time is it, anyway?" Shinichi asked curiously, trying not to fumble his chopsticks. Wow, okay, he was more tired than he thought. Motor control was off.

Kaito frowned at him. "Hey, are you okay? You're not having another immune lapse, are you?"

Shinichi frowned back, "Why are you asking me? I already told you I never see them coming."

Kaito promptly put a hand on his forehead. The hand didn't feel particularly cold, so Shinichi came to his own conclusion, as when he was running a fever normal-temperature hands _did_ feel cold. "I think I'm just tired," he yawned, scowled at himself, and took a bite of his food.

Not hot, but warm enough not to be rubbery yet, which was enough for him.

Kaito sat back a bit, his hand dropping away from Shinichi's forehead. "Okay. Eat and sleep; since you have the time for a break, you should take it."

Shinichi hummed around another bite before swallowing, "Oh, I plan to. Yesterday _sucked._ "

Kaito eyed him carefully, "Was it that bad? With Ran-san?"

Shinichi sighed, giving up on eating. He didn't really feel like food, anyway. "It went about as expected. The fact that it was then followed by two murders and an attempted kidnapping just…" he shook his head.

Kaito frowned at him, then sighed and slid the mug pointedly in his direction. Shinichi got the message: Kaito wasn't going to push him to eat, so long as he drank his morning meds.

He downed the contents of the mug in several quick gulps before scrubbing a hand over his eyes, "Really, though, I'm just tired. Come bother me in a couple more hours."

Kaito nodded, gathering up the tray. "Go back to sleep, then," he instructed, oddly gentle.

Shinichi nodded and settled back into his blankets, more than willing to do just that. He really _was_ tired.

 _xxxx_

Kaito frowned to himself as he closed Shinichi's bedroom door again. The sleepiness and lack of fine motor control were… _unusual._ He'd expected Shinichi to be far more awake by nine in the morning—the detective wasn't exactly known for sleeping in. The fact that he'd not eaten much and only drunk on prompting was also a little concerning.

He sighed, dropped the tray off in the kitchen to deal with later (elder Kudos not in immediate sight), and headed next door. Haibara was the one to interrogate, at times like this.

The not-little-girl listened to his recounting of the morning and shrugged, "I won't say he does it often—he doesn't—but if you offer him a reprieve after a long day, he tends to sleep more deeply than usual. While it is ultimately good for him, if he is woken before he wakes on his own; he's groggy, clumsy, and takes some time to get himself properly awake in any situation that doesn't involve adrenaline. It's not unusual for the body to not _want_ food at that stage, and he'll be back to normal when he wakes up again if you let him wake naturally."

"So… it's just because he wears himself down?"

Haibara shrugged, "Apt description. He's fine—probably far better off for the deeper sleep."

Kaito nodded, relieved. Well, mostly. The fact that this happened at all meant that Shinichi could really use more reliable periods of rest. Stumbling over murders as often as he did could _not_ be good for his stress levels, no matter that he claimed to be used to it.

Used to it or not, Kaito could see how much Shinichi hated killing. He didn't get surprised or upset, not really, but there was an edge of helpless anger to his eyes when they landed on a body.

"Want to help me plot him a break?" Kaito asked.

Haibara paused, eying him carefully. After a moment, she shrugged, "Well, what did you have in mind?"

Kaito grinned. He hadn't had anything specific, but if Science-san was willing to help…

 _xxxx_

"No."

Yuusaku blinked, pausing before entering the library. While he knew the flat refusal wasn't directed at him, curiosity prompted him to stay out of sight to listen.

"But Shin-shin…" Kaito wheedled.

" _No,_ Kaito. Do you know what happens when I go somewhere? Someone _always_ dies. If you want me to get a break, let me stay _home._ "

Yuusaku winced as he thought about that, and about all the cases Megure had reported (because he didn't elaborate, but he did send them numbers each week when Shinichi was involved, and Agasa had done the same when Shinichi had been Conan and Megure hadn't known anyone to tell that didn't already know). That was… unfortunately true.

Why _was_ that? Yuusaku had stumbled over a case or three in his life without Shinichi with him, but cases had been at least a weekly occurrence when Shinichi had been young enough to warrant parental escort. Sometimes bi or tri- _daily_ , on a bad day.

(Agasa had reported a single case with… he thought it was four deaths, but it might have been five, when Shinichi had been with a friend in Osaka as Conan. It wasn't _natural_.)

"Ah," Kaito said carefully, apparently realizing the truth in that statement. "Another day, maybe? You don't run into cases nearly so often at my shows."

Yuusaku stifled the urge to snort. ' _Shows_ ' indeed. Kaitou KID had always been flashy, but this Kid II really _had_ mixed his mother's drama with his father's flair and there had been some spectacularly ridiculous stunts that any other magician would have hesitated to do with a carefully maintained stage, much less high-rise buildings or pedestrian crossings or museums.

Shinichi made a thoughtful sound. "Only… twice? But we had to land that plane and I got thrown out of a window on that blimp."

"True," Kaito agreed, a faint tint of darkness in his tone. "And you got grazed by a few bullets on the blimp one, but… only one person's died across all of them, and that has to count for _something._ "

Ouch. So getting shot at and thrown out a window weren't all that bad by Kaito's reckoning of Shinichi's luck? (He _had_ heard about that, the thrown out the window part, anyway, and Ran had been demanding to know if _he'd_ known where Shinichi was at that time, because it had _looked_ like Shinichi was Kid until 'the end', whatever that meant. Of course Kid wouldn't risk disguising as someone who might show up, but if said Kid had _known_ about Conan back then, he wouldn't have had to worry about it. Although he might have had to worry about getting kicked in the kneecaps by an irate Conan. Shinichi was even cuter as a kid the second time around.)

That was worse than he'd thought.

"But that's only during your… _shows,_ " Shinichi injected the word with a wealth of irony. "Your presence… you were there for the Sunset Mansion thing, and that Magic Lover's get-together, and several others besides."

"Yeah, but… even at the Sunset Mansion thing, only one person actually _died._ Um. I'm not going to comment on the Magic Lover's, I think it'd hurt my case."

Shinichi snorted even as Yuusaku cringed, not sure he wanted to know. He'd gotten number of cases and how many had involved death, but not much more than that unless Agasa had been there personally. Which, admittedly, he usually wasn't.

"Yeah, okay, fine. Today's a stay home day. Got it. But I _am_ going to plan an outing where there will be no murders, kidnappings, terrorist attacks, international incidents, or even _purse-snatchings_ allowed."

Shinichi huffed, sounding amused. "If you manage that, I will enjoy it a great deal and thank you profusely afterwards."

Well. It sounded like the more enlightening (read: _alarming_ ) parts of the conversation were over. Yuusaku made his way into the library, raising an eyebrow as Shinichi didn't so much as blink.

Kaito grinned at him, "Learn anything new?"

Yuusaku eyed them both. "You knew I was there."

"We knew you were there," Shinichi agreed.

"The sad part is, Shinichi had me _downplay,_ " Kaito pouted.

Okay. Yuusaku was now going to have to ask Megure for any non-classified case files involving Shinichi's 'little cousin'. He was absolutely certain he had missed more than he should.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi cast Kaito a look that really couldn't be misinterpreted as anything but disapproval.

Kaito tried the innocent look. Shinichi was unimpressed, "Kaito, did you _have_ to worry my dad like that?"

Kaito scowled, "They left you to deal with all that crap on your own—even _before_ Conan, you had to deal with all those cases by yourself since you were _fourteen._ I don't even know if that's technically _legal*_ , but even if it is…"

Shinichi sighed, "I could have gone with them," he stated. "They asked me to, even, but…" he shook his head. His mom was a nomad at heart, there was nothing else to that, and his dad would follow her anywhere, because as much as they bickered, Yukiko was his dad's sense of 'home'. Shinichi, though, he wasn't. He wanted a stable _place_ , not just a couple of not-all-there parents who spent little enough time with him even when he _had_ traveled with them all over. He loved his parents, he did, but… they didn't give him the stability he needed for a home, and traveling had only made stumbling across all those cases that much harder. The police often wouldn't take him seriously if they didn't already know him.

He hadn't wanted to go. And, yes, he would have liked it if they'd stayed, or even just come back more often, but… he hadn't _relied_ on them since he was ten. They weren't those kinds of parents.

"Kaa-san left me behind," Kaito stated, eyes sparking. "But not for long. _Never_ for long. She comes back at _least_ every other month, and stays for weeks at a time, and when she isn't home, she calls or video-chats with me at least twice a week. You actually _forgot_ you _had_ your parents, and that… Shinichi, that bothers me. They didn't even stay for _Conan._ "

Okay. Yes. Objectively, he could see how that would look from the outside, but… "By then, I didn't want them to," he pointed out. Although, that right there said something, didn't it?

Kaito sighed, deflating, "Yeah. I thought so. That… doesn't make it better. You know as well as I do that age of majority is twenty, and while that doesn't mean that they have to be there all the time, it _does_ mean that they're supposed to support you. And… yours didn't, aside from monetarily. That's… that's not okay, Shinichi. It's _not._ "

Shinichi considered. He could understand Kaito's defensiveness, with that in mind. And Kaito—Kaito had loved and in many ways _idolized_ his own father, and from what Kaito had said of Toichi and what he'd heard from his own mother… his godfather had been a good father as well as a great man. It would bother Kaito, that Yuusaku wasn't.

Kaito's mother was flighty in her own way, but she _was_ an attentive mother even when at a distance, and that was one thing Yukiko had never really been. Oh, she'd _tried,_ but she didn't really know how to be. Yuusaku… in many ways, he was more like a distant uncle than a father. He cared, and when Shinichi was in danger, his parents would shadow him and do their best to keep him safe, but they didn't do it _by his side._ The did it almost literally from the shadows, staying largely out of his sight and sometimes coming in disguise.

That was Shinichi's family, as he knew it. He'd wanted something more stable, once, but that desire had died years before. Even so, though, "Kaito, it's not worth getting upset about, now. I'm an adult, and they're here because they were worried. It's enough."

Kaito didn't look convinced, but he did back down. Which… Shinichi wasn't entirely sure what it was about. Kaito had seemed pleased enough with their presence at first—what had brought on the attitude shift?

He asked.

Kaito sighed, shifting uneasily, "I… it's bugged me off and on since Osaka, when I first started thinking about it. I keep trying to tell myself it's fine if it doesn't bother you, but…" he shrugged helplessly, "Sometimes something will just make me think about it, and it just—it's not _right._ They're your _parents._ "

Shinichi sighed, "The repeated stumbling over murders doesn't help," he admitted. "Tou-san writes it, and sometimes Kaa-san acted it before she retired, but it's different when it's real. I think half the reason they left was that they didn't know what else to do."

Kaito scowled even more fiercely. "That just made it _worse_ , thanks."

 _xxxx_

 _*Age of consent (able to agree to romantic/sexual interaction {implied with an adult}) in Japan overall is thirteen._ Tokyo's _age of consent is eighteen (it is not the only localized consent law), and Japan's age of majority (legal adulthood) is twenty, from what I've been able to find. This makes views on adulthood rather complicated, compared to the U.S, where age of consent and age of majority are synonymous at eighteen, barring legal use of alcohol (which is twenty-one)._

 _\- I stand corrected, there are apparently some states with different age of consent laws. I don't think I've ever lived in one of them, but you learn something new every day._


	23. Revelation

_There is obvious romance. Be happy. Anyone who doesn't like it, I_ did _warn in the summery, so you'll just have to either look the other way or live with it. Or stop reading._

 ** _(23)  
Revelation_**

When Yuusaku had walked briskly into the kitchen and informed Yukiko that he was going to go talk to Megure, she didn't think much of it. She _did_ pout a little as he left, not wanting to be bored.

Then she realized that both her Shin-chan and her sensei's Kai-chan were in the house (probably the library, knowing Shinichi on a 'home day'), and made a beeline for the upper hallway and the secondary entrance to the library. She wanted to sneak up on them and find out what they were talking about!

She got into the room just in time to hear Kai-chan say "Shinichi, that bothers me. They didn't even stay for _Conan._ "

The tone had halted her entirely, upset and a little angry, and she wanted to say something, to interrupt—but Shinichi was responding, and it _sounded_ like he was just stating a fact, but that fact… now that she was hearing it out of the moment, out of the mixed amusement and worry that her Shin-chan was tiny again, tiny and _angry_ and defensive (and _so cute~!_ ) the connotations were suddenly much more obvious.

Kaito's response was no longer angry, instead sounding resigned. But Kaito was _right,_ wasn't he? She and Yuusaku _hadn't_ been there, hadn't supported Shinichi, had barely spoken to him but for unannounced visits that were more pranks than attempts to _be there_. They'd provided Shinichi the money to take care of himself and let him to do exactly that—take care of _himself._

And see where that had gotten him? In hiding, trapped in a body that was tiny and frail, having to lie even to _Ran-chan_ for her safety and his. Now, having to let Ran-chan be scared of him, still for safety because even if he wasn't tiny Conan anymore, he wasn't _normal_ after whatever the poison and antidote (was it even an antidote, or just a way to make the poison less destructive? She didn't know and was too scared to ask.) had done to him.

Ran had been more of a mother to him that Yukiko had ever been. Even as a true child, Shinichi had almost never come to her or Yuusaku for anything resembling _help*._ Were they truly so unreliable? Were they _that_ bad of parents?

Shinichi wasn't angry, that much was obvious, but that they had come now _wasn't_ enough. Not really. No matter what he said—and, oh, gods, did he believe that? That they had left in part because of how he stumbled over death everywhere he went? That some part of them leaving him here was due to something about him he had no control over?

Worse… had it been? Had that played a part in her desire to leave? In Yuusaku's willingness to go? Yes, they'd asked Shinichi to come, but neither of them had truly expected him to say 'yes'.

Had they really abandoned him for that?

Yukiko didn't know. She didn't _want_ to know, to look at it, to think and remember. If it was… if it was, no wonder he had so few friends, and most of those few police officers or detectives. No wonder Kaito worried about him so, hovering and caring for.

Yukiko backed out of the room, praying the boys hadn't noticed her, and fled back down the hallway towards the master bedroom.

She climbed up onto the bed and yanked at the comforter until it came out of its neat folds and pulled it up around herself, hunching down to tug a section over her head. She didn't cry, _couldn't_ , because Shinichi _had_ been through a lot, she knew it.

But she didn't know how _much._

She didn't deserve to cry when Shinichi wouldn't. She wasn't a good enough mother to cry for him.

Instead, she pulled a pillow into her arms and curled around it, sniffling and using every bit of acting she knew to keep the tears from welling up. She'd never thought about it—never thought what all their travel and all the death would have done to Shinichi. Never thought about how bad it would be to leave a fourteen-year-old _child_ to deal with near-daily murders on his own.

Shinichi had always seemed so capable, so much like he didn't need them. (But that was their fault, wasn't it? They'd stood back and watched when he was a child, a real child, hardly ever paying him any mind. They'd been busy, both famous and their son quickly becoming so for his brilliant mind. They'd been so busy trying to keep attention away from him that they'd forgotten to give it themselves.)

It was their own fault, that he really didn't need them, now.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi's head came up sharply when he heard the sudden sound of running feet, and it only took a second to realize what had happened. His mother had heard either some or all of that conversation.

"Damn it," he rubbed a hand over his face, "I need to go after her."

Kaito blinked at him. "What?"

"Kaa-san heard us. She just ran towards the master."

"Wait, what?" Kaito only looked more confused, "I didn't hear that."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Just—wait a minute, will you? I need to check on her."

Kaito nodded, still looking a bit startled, and Shinichi jogged up the stairs to go after his mother.

She was huddled around a pillow with the blanket wrapped so thoroughly around her that he could barely see her nose, and Shinichi sighed on hearing tiny, muffled sniffles.

"Kaa-san," he said.

Instead of answering, she tucked her nose out of sight.

Hm. Shinichi had always known they cared, and also that they either didn't know how to show it, or for some reason didn't think they could.

"Kaa-san, stop that," he moved over to sit next to her, wrapping an arm around the bundle of blanket. She was about his size, now, and it was gratifying that he _could_. "It's not—I won't say it's fine. It probably wasn't. But… I don't hold it against you, you know. I never have."

Another sniffle and the bundle turned into his hold, Yukiko suddenly actively crying. Not the wailingly dramatic sobs of finding out his body was _weird_ but the kind of crying where someone was trying desperately not to, but couldn't stop anyway.

Shinichi sighed, adjusting his grip into a hug. "Maybe it wasn't right. Maybe you really _were_ bad parents. But… I'd forgive you that, you know. And it never really felt all that bad to me."

He wasn't good at the 'comforting' thing, but maybe he didn't have to be.

Eventually, Yukiko ran out of tears and peeked out of the comforter. "I love you, Shinichi," she told him through a watery smile, far more serious than he'd heard her in years. "Your father does, too."

Shinichi huffed, "I've always known that. Why do you think it never seemed bad?"

He paused, shaking his head, "I love you, too, Kaa-san. You don't need to worry about that."

His family wasn't perfect, but it was still _his,_ and they _did_ care. They just weren't very good at showing it.

Wasn't that enough?

(He was twenty, now. He hadn't needed his parents to be parents since he was ten. Sometimes he'd wanted them, yes, but he hadn't _needed_ them. When he'd needed help, or allies—they'd been there when they could. Not really as _parents,_ but as help. And… wasn't that proof that they cared? That they, for all that they were inept at it, were _trying?_ It _was_ enough, now, even if it hadn't always been. All he needed to do was get them—and Kaito—to see that, too.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito didn't understand why Shinichi wasn't angry, but he did understand _that_ he wasn't, and that he didn't want Kaito to be, either.

Kaito shook his head, glancing at the stairs and resisting the urge to go up them. Maybe he should stop focusing on the fact that they were Shinichi's _parents,_ and focus more on the fact that they were _Shinichi's_ parents. Nothing around Shinichi was normal, and if he was okay with his family the way it was… well, who was Kaito to protest?

It bothered him, but… how different would Shinichi be, if they'd been there? Would he ever have truly gotten to see him for who he was, without all the pretense and masks? It had taken Conan and collaboration to get him comfortable enough to be real around his favorite detective, had taken secrets and lies on _Shinichi's_ part, hiding from and hunting the same organization that Kaito had so long tried to thwart for Kaito to start thinking that maybe, just maybe, he could truly _trust_ this one. If none of it had happened…

He suddenly found he resented the elder Kudos a lot less, with that thought. He was always going to hoard Shinichi like a treasure in his heart, even if all Shinichi ever wanted was 'friends'. If he'd never been able to truly _see_ that treasure…

Gods bless, he would have broken by now. Lying to his best friend, dodging a person he would count a friend who would _not_ count him such in return, scrambling to keep up with heists, school, and snipers all at once with no one that he could truly let go and be only _himself_ around (Jii and his mother worried, and he couldn't bear to add to it)… oh, yes. He would have broken, or gotten too tired or too careless and inevitably also gotten caught or killed.

Shinichi (Conan) had been the one person he _did_ show himself around, not hiding who he was even as he hid his name. Or _thought_ he'd hidden his name, but that had apparently been a bit pointless. He'd seen how Shinichi's Conan façade had melted away when they were alone, and had been gratified for the challenge and strange acceptance. It had gotten a little rocky sometimes—he hadn't known, when he'd used the carefully modified taser on Shinichi when he'd been after the Kirin's Horn, that Shinichi had a weakened system, that there had been too much strain on his heart already.

If he hadn't adjusted the amperage* to be safe for a healthy child, he would have killed Shinichi that night. As it was, Shinichi had remained unconscious for far longer than he'd expected, and he'd almost broken character to demand that Nakamori get the apparent child to a _hospital_ when he'd realized that 'Conan' was faking.

He hadn't been sure when it had _become_ faking, but he was angry at police irresponsibility all the same. He knew Nakamori and the Taskforce took him seriously when he gave his only rule, but Kid wasn't infallible. He could miscalculate, same as anyone else.

(He _had,_ that night, and had been— _was—_ so horribly grateful he hadn't killed Tantei-kun. But he couldn't let him know that, then, when they had still been so cautious around each other.)

The capturing of a supposedly non-violent thief should have been secondary to the safety of a child. (That had been violent, as much as he hadn't intended it to be. It could have gone so _wrong._ )

Kaito huffed, shaking himself out of the steadily darkening thoughts. He was angry at everything that had ever hurt Shinichi, himself included, and he was pretty sure that wasn't entirely healthy. Much of what he was getting worked up about had been years before, and it was… fairly pointless to be upset, now.

Okay, this might just be a bit more than a crush.

Kaito hid his face in his hands, trying to pull his mood back under control. He'd been bouncing between happy and worried and furious and resentful so much the past week that he was kind of surprised he hadn't given himself the emotional equivalent of whiplash.

"… What's the matter with you?" Shinichi's voice asked from a little behind and to the side.

Kaito laughed, raising his head, "You walked in on my epiphany, thanks."

Shinichi raised an eyebrow as Kaito twisted to look at him, offering a tired smile, "I… think I'm in love with you."

Shinichi paused, suddenly looking a little uncertain, and Kaito wished he could take back the words. He didn't want to make this any harder than it already was, and he just had.

Shinichi shook his head, frowning sharply, and Kaito cringed. The frown was quickly quelled, "Sorry, that wasn't directed at you. I… I don't _know,_ Kaito. I don't think I've ever…" he shrugged uncomfortably.

It was oddly endearing, to see him looking so awkward. Kaito found himself smiling, probably all kinds of soft and sappy, even as he was certain the answer was either going to be 'no' or 'not yet'.

"… but I want to _try._ "

Kaito blinked, mentally reeling, because that had sounded like—that had sounded like ' _yes_ '. "… Shinichi?" he asked carefully.

"I trust you," Shinichi told him plainly. "I don't feel the way you do, but… I think that I _can,_ given a little time. And I do _like_ you. When you're not being insufferable."

That _was_ 'yes'.

He hadn't expected a yes, not so soon, not so _readily_. He swayed a bit, his brain trying to process the sudden, rising tangle of emotions snagging in his chest, and then Shinichi was catching his arms, steadying him.

"Kaito?" the alarm in Shinichi's voice snapped his balance back on. "Hey, are you okay?"

Kaito grinned, feeling like a summer day had just taken residence somewhere near his heart. "I'm _better_ than okay," he informed. "I just had the most amazing person in the _whole world_ say he'd go out with me."

"Not in so many words," Shinichi corrected dryly, not looking entirely convinced on the matter of Kaito's health.

"I want to kiss you," Kaito told him.

Shinichi looked so startled at the declaration that Kaito leaned in and did, soft and carefully chaste. Now was not the time for a make-out session, and he wasn't sure how comfortable Shinichi would be with one, anyway.

Shinichi tensed at the sudden press of Kaito's lips on his, but he didn't pull away, relaxing after a moment.

Kaito pulled back and smiled at him, probably looking like ten kinds of dopey fool. "There, now it's official!"

Shinichi snorted, "You are such a sap."

"I'm a _romantic,_ thank you," Kaito couldn't even pretend to be upset at the half-accusing observation.

" _Sap,_ " Shinichi told him, but when Kaito tugged him close and wound his arms around Shinichi's shoulders in a limpet-like hug, he didn't protest.

Kaito thought that maybe he couldn't be mad at Shinichi's parents after all. If they'd been there, _he_ wouldn't be. And that… that would have really, truly been something to mourn.

 _xxxx_

 _*There are quite a few allusions to that in the anime. One rather prominent example is Shinichi and Ran's encounter with Kaitou KID I, when they worked on answering a riddle that was honestly above any eight-year-old's ability to solve. Shinichi not only did not ask for help, but turned down Ran's suggestion that they ask his dad, if I'm remembering correctly._

 _The way he did it looked like a pride issue, but considering some of the other references to his actual childhood, it seems more likely that he expected teasing or a simple refusal to give aid. Or possibly additional cryptic hints, which his father seems to do fairly often._

 _*This bit is a headcanon, as there is nothing to use as proof except that Conan didn't die. The fact that he gets ill so often in the anime heavily implies that he has_ something _wrong with his system somewhere, but Kaito wouldn't have known that. Also, just about everyone raised in an electricity-using culture knows that shocks are_ dangerous. _Tasers are designed for use against adults,_ healthy _adults, and can kill if used on anyone with heart issues or who is either particularly small or flat-out young. I can't see Kaito deliberately using a potentially deadly weapon on anyone Conan's size while_ knowing _it was potentially deadly, so I have this belief that he'd tampered with the thing to make it less powerful and as safe for a healthy child as a normal taser is for a healthy adult. Still not advised, but… well._


	24. Reorganization

_Chapter! Here. Bye for now!_

 ** _(24)  
Reorganization_**

By that evening, Shinichi was rather edgy. His parents were spending far more time with him than he knew what to do with, and, in all honesty, it was starting to freak him out. Ordinarily his mother would have gone off gallivanting at some point, only to show up either to drag her husband and son off to some ridiculous restaurant for dinner or in the small hours of the morning after running with friends she rarely saw all night. His father would normally have spent the vast majority of his time hidden away in his lair, writing and avoiding anyone who might report to his editors.

Instead, his father had gotten back from speaking to Megure, spent less than an hour in deep-but-quiet discussion with his wife in the master bedroom, and then _both_ of them hadn't let him out of their sight for more than ten minutes.

Kaito had been convinced to go get his errands out of the way so he and Shinichi could do something non-work related (this included both work and schoolwork) the next day as soon as Shinichi dropped in on Division One and filed the paperwork from the day before, so he didn't even have a reliable distraction against the unnerving _there-ness_ of his parents.

After his mother peeked into the library at him while he was reading (Leblanc's work, which he actually did enjoy) for somewhere around the thirtieth time in the past three hours (more than once every ten minutes, at any rate), he felt enough was enough.

A quick glance at the clock (five-ten) and he decided to go to the precinct himself. He could get the paperwork out of the way, if nothing else, and the police station was one of the very few places where running into any kind of crime-in-progress or dead body was rather low, unless he went down to the morgue. Even less likely, now that the syndicate had been scattered, because the compilations of org members in positions in government, business, and police may have taken a while to gather and parse through, but had still even further diminished the loose ends in cleaning up a multi-national criminal organization that had been working for over two centuries.

(And that hadn't been as much of a shock as it could have been. The larger Mafia and Yakuza groups were handed down like dynasties, parent-to-child, and kept running. Of _course_ one so large and well entrenched had to have predated his parents, or theirs.)

Megure was still on his normal shift and so were Sato and Takagi; it was Tuesday, after all. They were on 'till seven, and if he took the bus he could be there with more than enough time to spare, provided no one dropped dead. Granted, that wasn't something he was going to take as a provision, but he could hope.

He got up, re-shelved his chosen book ( _L'Aiguille_ _Creuse_ _,_ an Arséne Lupin book, since if he was going to learn French, he might as well read French literature _in_ French while doing so) and headed up the stairs to change his shirt and grab a light jacket before considering the light-level and also grabbing one of the ball-caps that Kaito had left with him.

A trip to the kitchen to down a mug of now-familiar SynthBlood and two dry-packets just in case, and a quick check of his 'Seals' and all Shinichi needed were keys, wallet, and shoes—all of which were on the way to the front door.

Just because his parents had been looking so worriedly guilty, Shinichi paused to call a farewell before leaving, though he ignored the semi-muffled attempt at a sentence as he closed the door.

He loved his parents, he really did, but he preferred them at a bit of a distance. Short term, having them around was interesting, often fun, and occasionally even a relief. Even a full day of that kind of hovering was really just too much.

 _xxxx_

Almost the entire Division One bullpen went silent when the door opened, and Takagi Wataru only knew one reason for that kind of thing—a reason that he'd rather hoped not to see, since said reason was _supposed_ to be taking a day to himself.

And yes, that was just who he hadn't wanted to see. "Kudo-kun?" he asked, a little cautious.

It was a relief to have Kudo give a casual wave, "My parents are home," he offered in explanation, and Takagi nodded.

"I _thought_ that was your father, earlier. He was asking Megure-keibu about you and Conan-kun."

Kudo shrugged, making his way to Takagi's desk while most of the junior officers moved subtly aside (Kudo rolled his eyes, looking only slightly irritated), and gestured vaguely. "That explains more of the hovering, then. I had to get out of the house, they're being clingy _._ Sooner or later, Kaa-san's going to do something crazy, and I don't want to be there for it. Especially if it involves her attempting to _cook_."

There was a story behind that, and Takagi wasn't sure he wanted to hear it. "I thought Megure-keibu told you not to come in today?"

"He did, with an admonition to take a break. Right now, here is significantly less nerve-wracking than home, so I came anyway."

That was probably fair. "Did you want the paperwork for yesterday while you're here, or did you just want to get away from your parents being… erm, 'clingy'?"

"Both," Kudo informed. "Kaito's been collaborating with my… eh, let's say 'doctor', even though 'evil-eyed mad chemist' might be more accurate. I don't know what they're planning for tomorrow, but I saw conspiring grins and decided I'm safer with plausible deniability."

"'Evil-eyed mad chemist'?" Takagi asked before he could stop himself. He did _not_ want to know—

"Reason I'm not currently drinking real blood," Kudo informed, which, okay. That sounded like a good thing.

"Also keeps running tests on me," he added, scowling. "I really wish she'd stop taking so much of _my_ blood, though. It always makes me hungry _._ "

Erk. That part sounded less good. "Ano…"

Kudo rolled his eyes, "Not _today,_ " he scoffed, "Anyway, paperwork?"

Right. And the local eavesdroppers looked like they weren't quite sure how to take all that, and if he felt like being honest, neither did Takagi. He _did_ know how to handle the last bit, though, as it was pretty straightforward. "Right, of course. I'll go grab that for you."

He did exactly that, heading over to the appropriate office to gather the relevant forms (and the fact that they had started printing consultant/witness hybrid forms really said a lot about the luck Kudo seemed to share with Conan—and, _kuso_ , was _Conan_ going to end up having the vampire thing happen to him when he got older, or was that only if someone managed to kill him? It did seem like they were both stalked by Shinigami, and they _were_ related… no, _bad_ thoughts, Takagi. No thinking like that) and returned to his desk to hand them to Kudo.

Kudo raised an eyebrow at him, "Why do you look so disturbed?"

Takagi blinked, glancing towards his desk briefly, "Ano… just… you have really bad luck, Kudo-kun…"

Kudo sighed sharply, "You're thinking about my cousin and certain shared traits."

… Kudo was _creepy._ "Can you read minds?" Takagi asked, again before he could stop himself.

That brought sudden, undisguised attention towards them from all corners of the bullpen, but Kudo only snorted, "Takagi-keiji, even if I could—and if I can, I don't know about it—I wouldn't _need_ to, with you. You really are very expressive, and you glance at the picture on your desk whenever you think about him in here."

That… he _did_ have a picture of himself and Conan on his desk, so that made sense. It was also a lot less freaky than the mind-reading thought. "I was just wondering if something like…" he waved a hand at Kudo, "… you know, _you…_ would happen to Conan-kun."

Kudo's expression flickered briefly before smoothing, "Let's go with 'I hope not', and leave it at that."

Sato walked in from the back hallway, raising one eyebrow as she neared. "What are you two talking about?"

Kudo rolled his eyes, "Takagi-keiji seems to have a theory on how I got this way that involves the luck Conan and I unfortunately share. On that note, I'm doing my paperwork."

Sato blinked at Kudo, clearly just realizing something. "I thought you were supposed to be taking a break today?" she half-asked, somewhat warily.

"I came straight here from home and didn't run into anything on the way," Kudo informed, wry, "but I really couldn't handle my parents' hovering. I figured the only other place I reliably get a break is Police Headquarters and came here in the spirit of Megure-keibu's instruction, rather than the letter."

Sato grimaced, looking more sympathetic at the explanation, and Takagi winced in acknowledgement of the point. "Well, good luck on the way home later, then," she offered.

Kudo huffed something that wasn't quite a laugh, "Thanks, Sato-san. I should probably actually let Megure-keibu know I'm here, just so he doesn't get worried if he comes out and sees me…"

"I can do that," Takagi volunteered, needing a few moments to shake off the worry on Conan's behalf. The way Kudo had given that brief hesitation probably meant he thought the possibility existed, and that was _not_ comforting.

 _xxxx_

"Shinichi," Kaito wasn't annoyed _,_ really, but his detective was supposed to be taking a break. Kaito did _not_ count paperwork in Division One as a break.

Shinichi didn't look up, seated at his desk and writing calmly, "Kaito," he returned, matching Kaito's own tone exactly.

"Why are you not at home?"

Shinichi raised his head, giving a flat look in reply.

Kaito paused, running through possibilities that Shinichi would think he should find obvious. "Right. Parents. Should I even bother to ask why you picked here?"

A raised eyebrow.

Yeah, it probably would reduce the chances of running into an incidental case, and while hanging out at Mouri-chan's generally also didn't have cases—so long as they stayed _there_ —Mouri-chan hadn't called and Shinichi wasn't going to call first. He'd gotten the basic rundown, and he could see why Shinichi didn't want to push. The Hakase's would put him in range of his little doctor's blood-drawing tendencies, and while he surely knew where Kaito lived, he'd also known Kaito wasn't home.

"Didn't think so. I _am_ wondering about the paperwork, though," he made his way between desks over to Shinichi's, hopping up onto the corner.

"Boredom, and a lack of desire to have to do it later," Shinichi informed, going back to writing.

"Fair," Kaito decided. "How much left?"

"One page," Shinichi replied, setting the one he'd just finished aside. "Plans?"

"Keep you out of your parents' immediate sphere of accessibility, if they're bugging you that much. You could always stay at my place tonight."

Shinichi hesitated, clearly giving that some honest consideration. "Tempting," he admitted. " _Very_ tempting. My parents _are_ acting a little…" he gestured vaguely.

"Freaked out?" Kaito suggested.

"Clingy," Shinichi temporized.

"Yeah, okay, executive decision: you're staying at my place tonight. Do we need to pick anything up from yours?"

"Depends. Packets? I have two."

"We're good; I have a stash."

Shinichi nodded, tapping the backpack beside his chair with a foot, "Change of clothes in there, so I'm good for one night." Another few moments, and he capped his pen, dropping it back into the top drawer of his desk. "Well, now that we've established that—let me turn this in. Plans for tomorrow?"

Kaito shrugged, hopping off the desk. "Nothing concrete."

Shinichi hummed, heading towards Megure's office in the back. Kaito took the moment to wave brightly at the bullpen at large, "Thanks for providing Shinichi safe haven, Division One!"

Takagi cracked a smile and Sato shook her head with an amused sound. "Not many people come here for a _break._ "

Kaito shrugged, "Shinichi's unique like that."

Shinichi thwapped him upside the back of the head gently. "Coming or not?"

"Hai, hai, coming!"

 _xxxx_

Yuusaku sighed, flipping his phone closed. He supposed that he should just be grateful Shinichi had bothered to call—his son wasn't exactly accustomed to having his parents home to wonder, after all.

The retreat shouldn't have been unexpected: he'd seen how restless Shinichi had been getting throughout the day as Yukiko had preformed her frequent room-checks and Yuusaku hadn't quite been able to keep himself from moving his work to the kitchen. After what he'd found out from Megure and Yukiko's account of an eavesdropped conversation and what their son had said upon following her upstairs, it was…

Well. They really _hadn't_ been good parents to him. And that he'd been in that much danger…

Hovering obviously made Shinichi uncomfortable, though, so it wasn't too surprising that he'd let Kaito talk him into staying at the Kuroba house in Ekoda. Kaito was definitely taking care of Shinichi every chance he got, but somehow it wasn't making Shinichi uncomfortable the way they or even Ran doing so did.

Yuusaku sighed again, relaying the 'Shinichi's staying with Kaito tonight' information to his wife. All the interactions he saw between those boys had him believing that Shinichi was much more likely to end up with Kaito than he'd ever been with Ran.

And that wasn't bad—if nothing else, Yukiko would be _thrilled_ —but it somehow still felt awkward to _him._ Godson, son—the concept was making him twitch. He couldn't exactly pull the threatening father routine on _either_ of them, especially not for the other. (He'd always had the vague thought that if Shinichi ever brought a boy home, instead of Ran or some other girl, he'd get a chance to play scary dad. It was really kind of a disappointment that he couldn't. And he _had_ kept an eye on Kaito as much as he had Shinichi. He hadn't gone to see him, though. He knew how much he looked like Toichi, and he hadn't wanted to stir up old grief.)

It was probably a good thing that Shinichi wasn't going to be home tonight, though, if he were honest. It gave Yuusaku a chance to sit down with his wife and talk things over.

 _xxxx_

 _*From what I've seen, third-person pronouns in Japanese are gender-neutral, which means there's no way to tell the gender of a person without other gender-identifying hints unless you've met that person. (Thus Kazuha being convinced that 'Kudo' was a girl Heiji was in love with, at first.) So, Shinichi wouldn't have to worry too much about watching what pronouns he used, and so long as he stayed away from other things—like suffixes, names, or outright declaring said person's gender—he wouldn't need to worry about narrowing down attention towards his actual chemist. Who's going to suspect the ten-year-old, anyway?_


	25. Impart

_Impart: give (usually information)._

 ** _(25)  
Impart_**

Shinichi had a fair idea of what Kaito had been up to the night before, because he'd been given a lighthearted warning to sleep and not expect Kaito to be easily found. He didn't have a problem with it, of course—another KID heist was fairly advised, really, provided that Kid actually _wore his vest_ —but he did vaguely wonder how much sleep Kaito needed.

Or _didn't_ need, as the case seemed to be.

Meanwhile, he made his way down the stairs—narrow staircase, unusually so—and paused in the doorway to the kitchen, taking a moment to watch Kaito cook. It seemed he wasn't just good at it; he looked like he was actively enjoying himself as he flitted about the kitchen, several doves also watching from various vantage points on cupboards and chair-backs.

Shinichi chuckled at the sight, stepping over the threshold, and quickly found one of the doves relocating to his shoulder.

Kaito moved the pan to a cold burner and spun around, grinning and bouncing over cheerily. He telegraphed his motions enough for Shinichi to have plenty of warning, and Shinichi decided to just go with it when Kaito leaned close and kissed him, light and quick.

Clearly, he was testing the waters, and Shinichi wasn't entirely _comfortable_ with it, but he wasn't uncomfortable, either. Kaito was outrageous with a lot of things, but this didn't seem to be one of them. Yet, anyway, although as Shinichi got more used to it, that might change.

"Good morning to you, too," he greeted in a more standard, verbal manner.

Kaito laughed, apparently in a very good mood. "Here," a mug of SynthBlood appeared in his hands with a distracting poof of smoke, and Shinichi spent a brief moment wondering how he'd managed that without spilling. "Breakfast's almost ready—have a seat. I'll bring it to the table."

Western-style again, eggs and toast. Simple and, considering the ratio of eggs-to-toast, high protein but somewhat lacking in vitamins. Oh, no—there was a knife, an orange, and an apple. That balanced things out a bit more, and _why_ did Shinichi have the suspicion that Kaito didn't feed himself nearly as well when Shinichi wasn't there?

"What's the suspicious look for?" Kaito asked, glancing over from where he was turning the pieces of fruit into uniformly-sized chunks.

"You're good at this, and you seem to actually like doing it, but you _also_ seem like it isn't a habit. You don't feed yourself like this regularly."

Kaito grinned unrepentantly, "So maybe you should come over more often!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but he couldn't quite stop the smile. This felt like… like home, actually. More than similar meals as Conan with Ran and far more than any morning he'd shared with his parents, _this_ felt like home.

Kaito's grin softened to a smile, and Shinichi flushed at the look in his eyes. That was… no one else had ever looked at him quite like that before. Like he was something precious. "Go back to your cooking," Shinichi looked away, a little flustered.

Kaito laughed softly, but turned back to what he was doing before depositing two plates on the table, both quite artfully arranged for such a simple meal before producing a set of chopsticks with a flourish.

Shinichi rolled his eyes and swiped the second set from his sleeve instead, leaving Kaito blinking in surprise before he chuckled, "Nice, Shin-shin. Do I get anything past you, ever?"

"Yes," Shinichi informed blandly. "I don't know how you didn't spill my drink all over yourself five minutes ago."

Kaito snickered, "Excessive practice. Usually with tea or coffee, but the principle's the same."

Shinichi wondered how much practice warranted an 'excessive' in Kaito's book, but wasn't sure he wanted to know. He had a different question, anyway. "So. Anything you want to do today?"

Kaito started to wave vaguely, opening his mouth to answer—and paused, titling his head. "Huh… introduce you to Aoko, actually, since I haven't. Maybe a status update with Nakamori-keibu and probably your parents… aside from that, nothing specific."

Shinichi thought that over. They… _hadn't_ told his parents, had they? "It's really tempting to not tell my parents until after they're no longer in Japan. I don't know for sure what Tou-san thinks, but Kaa-san's going to be a happily enthusiastic _nightmare_."

Kaito made a choked 'snerk' sound, hastily swallowing the bit of orange he'd just about inhaled when Shinichi had said that. "I kind of want to see that," he admitted once his airways were safe, grinning.

"I kind of want to see what _Hakuba_ would do," Shinichi mused. He liked the British detective well enough, but it was kind of fun to rile him up. (Kaito was clearly a terrible influence.) "And I suppose I'll have to let Hattori know, at some point. And Ran, once she's talking to me again." Because she would, sooner or later. She just had to get past her long-standing fear of monsters*.

"I'll tell my mom next time I talk to her," Kaito agreed, "and Hakuba will actually be the easiest person to get at before three. Aoko's in classes until this afternoon, and Nakamori-keibu's heading a seminar in Haido this morning, so…"

"I don't want to tell him directly, though," Shinichi considered out loud. "I want to see his expression when he realizes it himself. Also, you're a horrible influence."

Kaito grinned, bright with mischief, "I am," he agreed cheerfully.

Shinichi shook his head and went back to eating, actually looking forward to the day.

 _xxxx_

Under normal circumstances, Kaito would probably be trying to figure out just how much he could get away with that would freak out Hakuba, he mused, sucking on his mint-flavored sugar stick. Under _current_ circumstances, though, he was determined to behave himself.

Shinichi was giving him a chance, and as much as Shinichi tended to take even Kid's most outrageous stunts in stride—and sometimes come up with some pretty crazy stunts himself, as evidenced by _pretending to fall off a skyscraper_ —this wasn't the same thing. Shinichi was truly and obviously completely inexperienced in any romantic anything (seriously, stuck undercover as a grade-schooler. Not conducive to anything like a love-life), so Kaito wasn't willing to push him.

Flirt, fine. Kiss the back of his hand to make him blush while acting all Victorian gentleman, maybe. Hold hands, eh, didn't seem like them, really. More than that—no, not in public. He wasn't sure how Shinichi would take it, if it was more than just the two of them. Wasn't willing to find out without asking first, and wasn't willing to ask in public, either.

Not that Hakuba (cornered during his standard walk through a fairly little-used park) was 'public', exactly, but he _was_ more than just Kaito-and-Shinichi, which was close enough.

Shinichi was drawing Hakuba into a Holmes conversation (great way to get him to stop looking so stuffy, Kaito had to admit) and had somehow managed to slip Lupin in, which—okay, that was kind of impressive. Shinichi had just gotten _Hakuba_ to basically admit to reading _Leblanc._

Kaito rolled the mint-stick on his tongue for a moment, considering possible responses to this new knowledge, then opened his mouth—and yipped, startled and slightly pained as the extremely sharp* end of his candy poked his tongue. He snatched the stick from his mouth, making a face as the iron tang of blood mixed with the cool sweet of mint candy on his tongue and glaring uselessly at the needle-sharp end. "Ick," he complained before hesitating.

Shinichi was staring at him.

Very… _intently_.

"Uh… Shinichi?" Kaito asked carefully, swallowing before grimacing at the metal taste hitting his throat. It wasn't _much_ , really, but… _ick._

Shinichi's eyes flicked briefly to Hakuba before returning to Kaito, and Kaito was a bit surprised by the sudden spark of absolute _mischief_ in Shinichi's gaze. A step, and Kaito thought he might be seeing where this was headed, but he didn't really have time to react before Shinichi kissed him.

Which. He didn't have any _protests_ , really, but—it was a bit of a shock, especially when Shinichi licked into his mouth, sweeping the lingering blood away from Kaito's tongue with his own. He couldn't help but melt into the kiss, more than willing to go along with whatever had brought it on.

When Shinichi pulled back only a few seconds later, Kaito could only stare as he drew a shaky breath, "You kissed me," he said blankly.

Shinichi raised both eyebrows in very much a 'you are stating the obvious' manner.

"Not that I'm complaining," Kaito added hastily, "but… uh, what brought that on?"

Shinichi's eyes slid to the white mint-stick in Kaito's hand, and he glanced at it, seeing the red smear of his own blood from where he'd pricked himself. For several seconds, it didn't click.

" _Seriously?_ " he demanded.

"I thought you'd done it on purpose," Shinichi informed, a trace of amusement in his tone.

Hakuba made a strangled sound, and suddenly Kaito got it.

Dear Hermes, Shinichi was _evil._ He'd just added the 'vampire' thing to the 'see how Hakuba reacts' thing for a complete shock.

Kaito was impressed _._ Still, if Shinichi was willing to _kiss him_ in front of Hakuba just for a good reaction, he really had no choice but to play along. "Uh, no, that wasn't on purpose. Seriously, though, that was around three drops of blood. Why was that worth kissing me in front of an audience?"

"Why were you sucking on that candy stick until it got sharp enough to make you bleed?"

"Because it tasted… good… huh. Really?"

Shinichi smiled, fangs seeming more obvious in the dappled light, "Better than coffee."

Oh, high praise indeed. Now, if only he could tell whether that declaration was serious or not. Either way, Kaito could feel his cheeks heating.

"And entirely worth it to see you blush," Shinichi added.

That did _not_ make Kaito stop blushing. "Damn it, Shinichi, _Hakuba's_ here."

Shinichi paused, glancing at the other detective as though he'd forgotten about him. Kaito knew he hadn't, but Hakuba would probably fall for it, off-balance as he was.

"He'll survive," Shinichi decided. "If he can't handle new information, he shouldn't be a detective."

Oh, _ouch._ That was mean. It did get Hakuba to shake himself and straighten up, though.

"Kudo-san you're... Kuroba? Really?"

Kaito pouted, just a bit. "I'm not _that_ bad."

"You really are," Shinichi informed. "To Hakuba-san, anyway. I've heard of some of the pranks you've pulled on him."

Well. 'To Hakuba' was a quantifier that Kaito couldn't reasonably argue. "Hakuba's annoying, though," Kaito waved dismissively. "I don't love Hakuba."

Shinichi snorted, "Of course you do; he's one of your best friends. You're just not _in love_ with him."

"Shin-shin, quit giving away all my secrets!"

"Please, if you thought that was a secret, you expect the world to be utterly blind."

"Most of it _is,_ " Kaito muttered petulantly.

Shinichi tipped his head, acknowledging that point. "Anyway, I apologize if I made you uncomfortable, Hakuba-san. I really couldn't pass up the opportunity."

Shinichi was great at technical truths, and way better at acting than he'd been a few years ago. Also, he had Hakuba outright _cringing._

"… I understand that you cannot help your nature, Kudo-san," Hakuba said carefully, "but…"

Kaito huffed, "You'll note he did not bite _,_ " he pointed out, managing a pretty good 'exasperated' even though he really wanted to cackle.

Hakuba blanched, nearly choking on his own tongue as he quailed.

"This… may not have been such a good idea," Shinichi observed, casting a quick glance upwards as the sky lightened. "I had _intended_ to attempt a more peaceful morning with someone aside from Kaito who wasn't too likely to ask awkward questions on dentistry. I had not intended to cause such discomfort, and it seems as though the cloud-cover is breaking."

"Ah," Kaito considered the brightening light filtering down through the branches above them against that statement and decided that Shinichi wasn't just evil, he was downright _scary._ He'd just manipulated Hakuba into a very interesting corner with the vampire references, oblique and blatant both, and managed to use them to somewhat distract the British from his initial shock over the kiss, and now was hinting at 'time to leave', which meant that when Hakuba finished working his way through what had just happened, he'd have plenty of time to freak out on his own.

Shinichi was terrifying _._ Kaito was _so glad_ Shinichi had never turned that aspect of his intelligence against _him_.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi was having something of a combined panic attack and mortified mental breakdown _._ He could not _believe_ he'd done that, much less in front of someone else. That it had been Hakuba (who wasn't exactly the relationship-gossiping type) might _possibly_ make it somewhat better, but only somewhat. And that only because he might admit to knowing they were in a relationship, but it was very unlikely he'd ever mention the kiss, at least in anything like detail.

But he'd seen the opportunity and acted on complete impulse, then had to play it off like he wasn't about to spontaneously combust. Focusing on keeping Hakuba off-balance (thus making him more likely to _not_ question the vampire rumors) had kept his own impending panic at bay, but with only Kaito in sight and sheltered by trees, he had to catch himself on a nearby trunk and cover his face as his skin heated. He was pretty sure he was blushing _all over._

Just to make things worse, it was going to send all kinds of mixed signals to Kaito, and he _really_ didn't want to explain that he'd ended up not nearly as comfortable with that situation as his actions and words had implied.

At least he'd gotten to see Kaito blush, too.

"Outside of your comfort-zone, then?" Kaito asked, sounding only half teasing.

Shinichi made an incoherent sound of embarrassment before taking a few deep breaths and getting himself (slightly) more under control, "I," he informed his palms, still covering his face, "blame my unthinkingly impulsive side on my mother."

"Hey," Kaito's hands curled around his wrists, gently tugging his hands down. "It's okay if that was too much, you know."

Shinichi kept his eyes closed, still not at all calm.

"No, seriously," Kaito made a strange sound, an exasperated huffy not-laugh. "Come on, Shinichi, it wasn't _that_ bad. I mean, obviously that didn't turn out to be something you're okay with, but it was… nice to learn that you like me enough to kiss me on impulse, even if it was kind-of fueled by reinforcing your cover."

And that was exactly… no, Kaito understood that he hadn't been comfortable with it. He wouldn't have pulled back nearly so quickly if he had been, admittedly, because if he'd drawn it out it would _really_ have freaked Hakuba out, and it was disturbingly fun to unnerve that particular detective.

"I'm sorry," Shinichi finally worked up the nerve to open his eyes and was a little surprised by how concerned Kaito looked.

"Shinichi, it's _fine._ If kissing like that isn't okay, it's probably better that we found out now."

Okay. That was a… possible point, but Shinichi was going to have to give his own feelings on the matter a good look to find out just what about it had him so off-balance, aside from the 'other person watching' factor. He was certain that had been part of it, but whether or not it was the _whole_ of it, he wasn't sure. Still, the way Kaito had said that implied… "You're just… all right with that?"

Kaito smiled, and Shinichi felt himself warm again, only it was somewhere deep in his chest instead of all over his skin. "While I will freely admit that I would like to kiss you like that and maybe one day go even further… it's not a requirement, Shinichi. It's not something I _need._ If it's too soon, that's okay. If you never want to… that's okay, too."

And that was… that was… Shinichi was going to have to sit down and think after the day was over. Because Kaito _wasn't_ asking, and that… Shinichi drew a breath, held it for a few moments, and let it back out. "Okay."

"Okay?" Kaito asked, double-checking.

Shinichi nodded, "Okay."

Kaito's smile went from soft to cheery, "Okay, then! I still need to introduce you to Aoko and update Nakamori-keibu, but there's plenty of time for a proper break. Also, you'll let me know if you don't want to, right?"

Shinichi snorted, "If you think you can keep from doing anything that raises Nakamori-keibu's volume past 'roar', I'll be fine."

That earned a snicker before Kaito stopped, "Waiiit a minute. I forgot about that part—Shinichi, you heard your mother in the upstairs hallway yesterday when I didn't. What's with your hearing?"

Shinichi shrugged one shoulder, "The parts of your ear that allow for hearing separate tones and determine sensitivity can't really heal under normal circumstances. Haibara has a theory that they could if you went into a sensory-depravation tank for a month or three, but as long as you're hearing _anything_ , they're at least partially in use. Certain parts break down more easily than others—you're almost guaranteed to lose hearing for high-pitched tones before low-pitched, for one thing—so even by young adulthood, most people have lost higher tones. The, uh, _incident_ reset that to a child-state, somehow, and now my healing is apparently fast enough that Haibara doesn't expect a repeat on the normal degrading."

Kaito looked faintly disappointed, "So no super-hearing?"

Shinichi rolled his eyes.

Kaito shrugged, "Oh, well. Kid hearing is better than adult, so that's something."

Yeah, and it actually had more to do with how he hadn't gotten himself killed as Conan than he'd like to admit. "Everything else seems to be pretty normal, too, as far as Haibara can tell. Reaction time's a little weird sometimes, but that's only during the immune lapses, so she thinks it has more to do with the fevers than anything else."

Kaito shrugged easily, "Well, at least you're mostly healthy. Come on, let's get inside—there's a nice little coffee shop near here, and a couple of my classmates claim that the coffee's good."

"And of course you can't confirm," Shinichi teased, feeling less rattled, "chocolate addict that you are."

"You're getting mocha," Kaito told him.

Shinichi paused. He didn't really enjoy sweetened coffee, and he wasn't all that fond of chocolate unless it was at least seventy-five percent cocoa, preferably higher, but… it _did_ help. "If it's dark chocolate," he conceded.

Kaito tossed him a grin and didn't answer.

(It turned out to be both dark and genuinely enjoyable. Clearly he could trust Kaito to know his taste in beverages.)

 _xxxx_

 _*I have nothing against Ran, even if I do find her canon clinging to Shinichi unreasoned. Frankly, it's not a healthy relationship no matter how you look at it, and while the very faint possibility exists that it could be repaired once the truth is out, realistically speaking… it's a bad situation. Not only that, she's stupidly idealistic about getting her parents back together—her schemes generally make things worse, because she doesn't take into account how either of_ them _feels about it. She's a smart girl, otherwise, so that aspect bugs me. It seems like willful blindness in both cases, which means there's something there_ she _needs to work out before she goes trying to forge a romantic relationship of her own if she wants something stable. I think some part of her is just too scared to try, and Shinichi not being there makes him a 'safe' person to be 'in love' with. She probably even believes she is, in canon, but the fact is that she doesn't even_ know _him, really. He knows her, but he's lying to her at every corner, so there's very little chance of a 'happily ever after', no matter how much either of them might want one._

 _Ahem. Rant over—I blame the author, naturally, not the characters. I admit it's a reasonably believable response for a teenage girl who's grown up with an alcoholic father and a highly successful but absentee mother who left her with him, though, so it's not crazy._

 _*Anyone who's sucked on a candy cane or similarly-shaped hard sugar confection for a while has probably encountered this. Stick-shaped candies get_ sharp _when you suck on them, and I actually have poked my tongue with one and ended up bleeding… more than once, if I'm honest. I used to love those things. (Then I got braces and they became not worth the aggravation. I never did get that love back, even after the braces were off.)_

 _Also, ever since I decided for certain that this was going to be an actual KaiShin story, I wanted to do something where Shinichi initiates when he's not actually ready for it and freaks himself out, then Kaito gets to be understanding. Just to reiterate: Shinichi outpaced himself, don't expect it again for a while._


	26. Sustain

_So, yeah. I'm unable to do much but write, lately, but I don't suppose anyone actually has complaints about that. Anyway, have a chapter that involves Hakuba, Nakamori-keibu, and Aoko.  
_

 ** _(26)  
Sustain_**

Hakuba felt a little disconnected as he made his way home and started fixing himself tea. He rather thought he'd need a whole pot, for this.

He'd already been fairly sure Kuroba was in love with Kudo. That Kudo had some sort of reciprocation going on was unexpected, but… Kudo was ordinarily quite reserved.

Seeing his entire focus zero in on Kuroba (faint red on lips from a bleeding tongue) with that kind of predatory intensity had been a little alarming, and the way he'd glanced at Hakuba in a moment of clear indecision before his nostrils had flared slightly and he'd ended up pulling Kuroba into a short but very _dominating_ kiss…

Legend, myth, and fiction spoke of fewer inhibitions and a pretty terrifying level of bloodlust, in all possible interpretations of the word.

The fact that Kudo had also verbally admitted that the kiss had been inspired _by_ the blood was more than a little unnerving. (Kuroba's exasperated pointing out that Kudo hadn't _bitten_ hadn't helped much.)

Hakuba let out a sharp breath, trying to still the disjointed flow of his own thoughts as he took the kettle off the stove, pouring boiling water over the loose-leaf Earl Grey in his teapot before setting the kettle on a cool burner, double checking that he'd turned off the one he'd been using.

He hadn't. His fingers were shaking, a little, when he reached out to turn the dial until the stove clicked off, and how had something so simple shaken him so badly? It had been a _kiss._ Granted, it had involved one of the largest banes of his existence and a detective he actually respected (and grudgingly and _silently_ admitted whose skills were better than his), but it was just a kiss.

Except that it had been prompted by blood and been a sharp and heavy reminder that Kudo wasn't… _human,_ anymore. He'd seen the effects of Koizumi's spells, felt them (rather humiliatingly) in one case, or what he _hoped_ was only one case, but that had been—was— _Koizumi._ She'd always felt wrong.

Kudo… he'd seen him shot with his own eyes, seen him bleeding out with a hole in his lung, coughing up blood (too much for it to be faked, _far_ too much), helped dig the bullet (bloodied, but of course it was a barely visible film as it had torn through Kudo's chest so _quickly_ ) out of the wall and bleach the evidence. That had been terrifying, _horrible,_ and if Kudo's desire to keep his blood out of a doctor's hands meant anything, it was that he feared it could be used somehow.

Whether it was infectious or not, there was some merit to that worry.

The very next day, Kuroba had been suffering from fairly obvious hypovolemia, a bandage on his shoulder and Kudo showing concern in his odd, matter-of-fact way. (Kudo hadn't had visible fangs, then, and the bandage had hidden the wound. Had it been a cut? Even Kuroba had admitted that he'd forced the issue. After such an injury, Kudo—according to legend, _any…_ vampire—would have been starving, desperate to feed in order to heal. The scent or taste of blood not his own would likely have sent him into some kind of haze or frenzy, and the sudden intensity he'd shown even while well-fed when Kuroba had barely pricked himself was pretty telling.)

He checked the tea, then poured himself a cup with mostly steady hands, having gotten out one of the ones his family had brought from London. It was a small comfort, one he rarely bothered with, and he added milk and sugar as he thought.

How many of the legends were true, and how many weren't? And how the hell had Kudo _become_ one? If the legends were right on the making of a vampire (granted, they varied, but the common factor was being _turned_ ), how many others were there? If even half the legends were vaguely approaching the truth, most of them would be far less careful about the frailty of human life, and many—if not most—would actively enjoy snuffing it out.

That was… a thought he'd been trying to avoid. He hadn't seen anything about vampire-themed serial killings, but… they could just be very, very good at hiding it. Missing persons lists weren't long, in Tokyo. For some reason, Kudo always found the dead, and before he'd gotten back, Edogawa Conan had.

He stopped, cup halfway to his lips. Looked at that thought very, _very_ carefully, prodding it from other angles.

The cup lowered as he swallowed dryly. What if… what if the legends had gotten that wrong? What if it wasn't that they were _made into_ what they were? What if it was some kind of-of _born_ curse, that they were haunted by death until it took them, and then simply not allowed peace? Kudo had been missing for two days, after all, _genuinely_ missing, and had come back shaking and suffering from _traumatic amnesia._

Add that to a flashback on seeing a murderer…

He set his cup on the counter in front of him and leaned against it, feeling suddenly lightheaded.

Kudo Shinichi had been _murdered,_ and no one knew, no one would _ever_ know, because he was still here, still walking among them, still stumbling over death and violence and staring down criminals with unflinching eyes.

And… what would happen to _Conan?_

(Those two had the same eyes, for all that Conan's had been obscured by glass. The same helpless, frustrated, _grieving_ anger on seeing the dead, the same sharp satisfaction when the clues came together and the killer became clear. They had been the same, and suddenly he feared that one day, they'd be the same again. Conan had nearly died so many times, close calls and injuries nearing weekly. FBI protection was all well and good, but it really only highlighted how much danger he was in.)

He wasn't sure whether he wanted to be right or not. On the one hand, it would mean there were no bloodthirsty monsters roaming around. On the other…

Kudo was his own age, and had a set of morals that were unbelievable in their strength and purity. A monster catching and changing him would have been bad enough, but to think he'd been killed, left somewhere in hopes that he'd never be found, and then been refused whatever peace was supposed to be waiting beyond death…

Hakuba sank to the floor, sickened. That was…

He took a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. Kudo somehow _wasn't_ a monster, and he had to believe that would remain as it was. Kudo also wasn't… He was taking it remarkably well, overall. As much as the _concept_ was horrifying, the result didn't seem to be, really.

Aside from the whole… blood-drinking thing. Which… there was a culture he'd read about that drank blood instead of eating meat*, mixing it with milk or just as it was. They didn't butcher their animals; they bled them, careful not to take too much. It had been an interesting article, and made the concept of blood-drinking a lot less horrifying when he thought about it in their terms.

They gained sustenance without killing, and that was rather the point. Kudo clearly intended to do the same, and if he hadn't killed Kuroba yet, it was unlikely that he was going to. He rubbed a hand over his eyes and stood back up, still a little shaky but far calmer with that realization.

It was something, at any rate. And if Kudo and Kuroba could handle this, so could he.

Although he was going to ask. He had to ask; he couldn't keep wondering how Kudo had become what he was.

(Not today, though. He didn't think he could face Kudo again so soon, not even with Kuroba there.)

 _xxxx_

Nakamori's first impulse on hearing Kaito bouncing towards his office (no one else 'bounced' in the precinct) was to pray for patience, but the unnerving silence that echoed from the bullpen aside from those too-cheery footsteps had him suddenly concerned.

His men could handle _Kaitou KID_ , after all. Kuroba Kaito had never been more than an amusing irritant. The slightly muffled declaration of "Come _on,_ Shin-shin won't bite!" had his prayer for patience swap to one for courage.

Kudo was here. He hadn't seen Kudo more than once since the last heist, and that only to fill out paperwork and leave. And while he knew that Kudo wasn't hostile, that he would never intentionally cause serious harm, he couldn't help the chill at the thought that Kudo was something that _shouldn't exist_.

Kaito tapped on his door, actually having the decency to wait for a response before opening it, and waved cheerfully.

Well, at least Kaito was in good health and high spirits, which was more than could be said for the last time he'd seen Kaito and Kudo at the same time, and… there was Kudo, giving Kaito a fondly exasperated look as he started fidgeting his way though card tricks.

"Kaito, Kudo-san," Nakamori nodded a greeting, doing his level best to hide his unease.

Kudo nodded and returned the greeting and Kaito flashed a nervous smile, the cards poofing into glittery smoke before being abruptly replaced by three juggling balls. (Nakamori never had managed to figure out how Kaito could carry all those things without it showing.)

Kudo reached out, catching the balls and stilling Kaito's hands. "Relax, Kaito. It's Nakamori-keibu. You _know_ him."

Nakamori blinked as Kaito's tension suddenly eased, his expression loosening to something more real. "Shinichi," he half-complained, not looking at all like he meant it, "Why do you always have to be _right?_ "

Nakamori opened his mouth, hesitated, and finally settled on asking "What do you two _want?_ " in a somewhat aggrieved manner.

"So, uh," Kaito cast a help-me look in Kudo's direction, and Kudo gave him something between an encouraging smile and an amused smirk. "I asked Shinichi to go out with me?"

"Why is that a question?" Kudo asked while Nakamori was still trying to comprehend the sentence.

Kaito was dating a horror-story creature that also happened to be the best detective in Japan.

Okay, then. He'd thought the boy couldn't get any crazier, but apparently he'd been wrong.

"Nakamori-keibu," Kudo began, eying him with something vaguely approaching sympathy, "You don't need to worry about the…" he hesitated, then sighed and waved vaguely, baring his— _shit_ —fangs. "My… _doctor,_ " something about the way he said that was worrying, "has developed a stable synthetic that I can use in place of blood. I keep some on hand, and so does Kaito. I think most of Division One has begun to as well, just in case of further incidents."

Kudo hadn't had _fangs_ last time Nakamori had seen him, but then it had been over a month, and Kudo hadn't been a vampire long, then. And, damn it, that should _not_ be a sentence he could think _seriously._

He sighed, tamping down his misgivings in the face of Kaito's clear nervousness. "You hardly need my blessing, Kaito," he pointed out, going for dry and ending up with gruffly fond. "But… you could do worse than Kudo, vampire or not."

The sudden happy relief breaking over the boy's face had him scowling to cover the urge to smile, and he turned a glare on Kudo, " _You,_ on the other hand. If you hurt Kaito—in _any_ sense of the word—I will _find_ a way to put you down."

Kudo met his gaze levelly, "I'm going to do my best to see him safe and happy. I don't promise everything will be perfect, but… I will _try_."

Well. More honest than most, anyway. "See that you do," he paused, hesitant, but he had to ask. "Have you got any idea what's kept Kid quiet so long? It's not like him."

Kudo shook his head, "He was uninjured when he left the last heist. Horrified, but uninjured—he saw me shot, after all. It's quite possible that he's been redoing some of his equipment to deal with snipers that are no longer being careful _._ "

Right. That would take a while. And it was a good point; Kid tried to protect them whenever something unexpected happened, having to _be_ protected would probably have stung his pride under normal circumstances, but having someone get hurt in front of him would likely have him planning contingencies and upgrading equipment. (Especially since anyone but Kudo getting hit like that would have _died._ )

That thought _really_ shouldn't have been comforting.

(It was.)

 _xxxx_

"Aoko!"

Aoko yelped, backpedaling in shock as a shaggy-dark head of hair appeared directly in front of her in a 'poof' of smoke, dropping her book-bag and nearly crashing into Keiko, who'd shared her last class of the day. (That had been a relief when they'd found out; neither of them had expected to know anyone else at first.)

Keiko yelped, too, jumping back and raising her book bag defensively.

Aoko twitched as the culprit registered, raising her head with a dark glower, " _Kaito!_ "

His eyes widened comically, hands coming up in a vaguely warding gesture even as he beamed uncontrollably. "Sorry, sorry!"

"'Sorry' won't get you out of punishment!" she growled, snatching up her bag and giving a wild swing.

Something interposed itself between her and Kaito, the bag hitting with a strange 'thump-kek' sort of sound. The something turned out to be a _someone,_ and the someone grunted sharply before making a sound very much like a growl.

Kaito yelped, dragging the someone back as Aoko realized she'd just whacked a stranger with a bag of college textbooks.

She dropped her bag again, flushing, "Oh my goodness, Aoko's so sorry! Aoko didn't see you! Are you all right?" Kaito would have dodged, but she hadn't taken a swing at him with her _college bag_ ever before, it had always been her lighter _high-school_ bag, and even then she usually went for the mop.

Kaito was also looking over the other person, eyes wide. "Shinichi?"

'Shinichi' waved dismissively, "You weren't moving fast enough, you moron. I remember what you told me about riling up your friend; that's a much heavier bag than you should be standing still in front of. You could have ended up with cracked ribs."

There was something just a little breathless in the fondly annoyed admonition, and Kaito frowned, eying the person (who looked a little like Kaito—a relative?) in something that wasn't _worry_ , exactly, but was concern all the same. "I think you just _did._ "

Another dismissive gesture, "It's fine, Kaito. Now, are you going to introduce me or not?"

Aoko felt her guilty worry build, "Are you all right? Should we take you to the nurse's office?"

"Hm?" the other young man glanced at her, then turned an expectant gaze on Kaito, who flushed, but was already going back to 'beaming'.

"Right! Shinichi, this is Nakamori Aoko, my best friend! Aoko, this is Kudo Shinichi, my boyfriend!"

A little off to the side, Keiko choked.

Kaito paused to blink at her like he'd forgotten her presence while Aoko tried to wrap her head around the declaration, feeling rather dazed. Kudo Shinichi was a famous detective their own age, after all, even if he somehow managed to keep his private life largely out of the media.

Kudo gave a polite bow, "Nice to meet you, Nakamori-san. Also, Kaito, I know you know the other—just because you didn't _plan_ to introduce me to her is no reason to be rude."

Kaito blinked again, then grinned, "Oops, sorry, Keiko-chan. Shin-shin, this is Momoi Keiko; she was in my high school class, too."

Kudo offered another polite "Yoroshiku" and Keiko went starry-eyed.

Which Aoko felt like doing, herself. Her dad had complained about Kudo in a halfhearted sort of manner, but it wasn't genuinely resentful. "Nice to meet you, too, Kudo-kun," she managed, trying to wrap her head around the fact that not only was Kaito dating a _guy_ —and, okay, he'd never really shown interest either way past his usual flirting, but in that usual flirting he wasn't exactly picky—but a minor celebrity who happened to be a detective who had occasionally stepped in to make Kid's life difficult.

Somehow this didn't add up to anything comprehensible. She'd known Kaito _knew_ Kudo Shinichi—that time where Beika had called him over to their precinct to help with something bad that had happened to Kudo-kun had earned her a stuttering explanation from her father and Hakuba-kun—but… _dating?_

Still, it was a good thing, if it made Kaito smile so genuinely. "When did this happen? Why is Aoko only hearing about it now?" she demanded, picking up her bag and moving closer, Keiko at her side and brimming with silent enthusiasm.

"I didn't get up the nerve to actually ask him until yesterday," Kaito admitted sheepishly.

" _Apparently,_ " Kudo sounded vastly amused, "He's been crushing on me for almost four years."

Kaito flushed, shoving Kudo gently, "I couldn't ask you out when you were in _hiding!_ "

Kudo winced, sucking in a sharp breath, and Kaito stilled.

"Shinichi? Oh, shit—that's worse than I thought, isn't it? Are you okay?"

Aoko froze, realizing that wince was for Kaito pressing against where she'd thumped Kudo-kun with her bag.

Kudo, once again, dismissed the concern, "It's fine. I could stand a boost, but you know as well as I do that it's not going to kill me."

Kaito bit his lip, eying Aoko uncertainly for a moment before nodding sharply and producing a thermos from nowhere, removing the lid before offering it to Kudo-kun.

Whatever was in it was a deep, rich crimson, and looked creepily like blood. It couldn't be, though, because Kaito would never like someone with _that_ kind of personality.

Kudo-kun drank a good half of it before handing it back, and Kaito eyed him suspiciously, "Is that enough?"

Kudo-kun rolled his eyes, "Kaito. Cracked ribs are not gunshot wounds."

"Ano…" Keiko blinked, "What?"

Quite suddenly, the thing that had been bugging her about Kudo-kun clicked. "Kudo-kun has _fangs!_ "

She had _not_ meant to blurt that out.

Kaito grinned brightly, but there was a bit of wariness in his gaze as he watched her, and he cast a quick, worried glance towards Kudo-kun.

"It's fine, Kaito. They'll find out eventually, if they're your friends. Her dad will probably explain tonight even if we don't."

Kaito bit his lip, cast a faintly panicked look in Aoko's own direction, and nodded. "Can you guys not spread it all over campus, though?" Kaito asked seriously. "It's bad enough that the police know, even if it _was_ necessary."

That sounded… "Right," Aoko agreed, echoed by a curious Keiko.

"Shinichi's, um… not entirely human, anymore."

 _Anymore?_

Kudo-kun sighed sharply, "What he _means,_ " Kudo cast Kaito a slightly sour look and received a helpless little shrug in reply, "is that I recently became something we have no better description for than 'vampire'."

Aoko blanched and Keiko squawked, "You mean that's _blood?_ " she demanded, gesturing at the thermos Kaito still held.

Kaito shook his head, "No, no. Shinichi's terrifying chemist-friend spent about a week developing a working synthetic he could use instead."

"She's my _doctor_ , although I won't dispute the 'terrifying'."

Okay. Okay. And he obviously was more than a little protective of Kaito, considering he'd stepped in the way of her haphazardly-swung bag of books. Then the thought popped up, "Did Aoko really break your ribs?"

Somewhat to her surprise, Kudo-kun rolled his shoulders back and took a deep breath before prodding at his own side and nodding, "I think you did, yes. They're still a little tender, and they wouldn't be if it had just been bruising."

"Uh…" Keiko managed.

Kaito shrugged, "Hey, he got shot through the right lung at the last Kid heist by one of those snipers the police haven't caught yet. He was fine by the next day."

A hand reached out to swat Kaito in gentle reproof. "Ask Nakamori-keibu or Hakuba-san," Kudo instructed, his sleeve shifting to show a glint of silver at his wrist. "In all honestly, I'm starting to get a headache—Kaito, do you mind…?"

Kaito blinked, then winced, glancing upwards. "Right, sorry. Let's get you out of the sun."

Aoko found herself trailing along after them, Keiko trotting at her side as Kaito herded his boyfriend— _vampire_ boyfriend, apparently, although she wouldn't put it past Kaito to be messing with them—towards the campus library.

(She and Keiko did go talk to her father, later. The fact that Kaito _hadn't_ been messing with them was a little scary.)

 _xxxx_

 _*National Geographic article I read years ago. I recall the cattle being kind of scrawny-looking in the pictures, and the children eating congealed milk-and-blood off a mixing stick as a treat. Which, um. Really messed with my sense of 'ick', actually. I tried to reconcile the idea of 'congealed bloody milk' with 'treat' and my brain did a sad little 'does not compute' fizzle and shut that train of thought down._


	27. Wane

_Wane: to diminish, weaken, or grow smaller (Also, LD is next up for update, for anyone who cares to know. Ah, and KK-I don't know if you've found it, but there's a chapter in A Day in the Life that is a result of one of your reviews, if you're interested.)  
_

 ** _27  
Wane_**

Shinichi had just about resigned himself to having to tell his parents that he and Kaito were dating when he got a text from Haibara. It was fairly simple, a _'Kids will be coming over tomorrow. Be here.'_ because even though she was willing to shorten her sentences and skip words, for some reason she still punctuated.

Shinichi snapped his phone closed again and pocketed it, a little disappointed that the order wasn't going to let him procrastinate for a few more hours and a little relieved that Haibara wasn't calling for more blood samples.

Kaito raised his eyebrows, "Anything important?"

Shinichi shook his head, "Not until tomorrow… which means I should probably tell my parents _today._ "

"Don't sound so enthusiastic," Kaito teased, shifting closer to bump shoulders with him. "It's not _that_ bad, is it?"

"It isn't, no," Shinichi agreed, "but _Kaa-san_ generally is. And there's the fact that we have to get all the way to Beika." He hadn't run into a murder for a while. There was no way that would last.

Kaito paused, clearly considering that. "Well, I guess we'll see. As for the second… maybe we'll get lucky?"

Shinichi snorted, "Have you noticed what my luck is like?"

"Um," Kaito hesitated, grimacing. "Yes, actually. Let's use mine."

That startled a laugh out of Shinichi, "You know, that's not a bad idea. Think we can get it to work that way?"

Kaito shrugged, flashing a grin, "Won't know until we try!"

 _xxxx_

Aoko sat down to consider what her father had told her (and Keiko) in the privacy of her own room after Keiko went home, more that a little unnerved by the information. Her dad wasn't the type to believe in that kind of thing—youkai, spirits, and things like them he held the same not-quite-belief towards as most people raised on Japanese lore, but when it came to _Western_ horror-stories, he generally outright scoffed. Not only that, he would never joke about something like… well, like Kudo-san. ('-san' now, because he suddenly felt like he was removed from her sphere of acquaintance, despite being Kaito's boyfriend. They hadn't been lying when they'd said 'vampire'.)

It was worrying. She didn't know Kudo-san, and even though her father said he would never kill, every (relevant) story she'd ever heard said that a vampire _would._ But… he'd gotten between her book-bag and Kaito, and hadn't struck out even though she'd cracked his ribs. (She hadn't quite believed it, despite what he'd said, because she hadn't believed 'vampire' and no one would be so casual about cracked ribs. She'd had one, once, and it had hurt to breathe—but if Kudo-san really wasn't human, he'd probably been telling the truth on the ribs, too.) He'd growled, though, if she remembered correctly—so he just had really good self-control?

Kudo-san had named Hakuba-kun, as well. Maybe he'd be able to clear things up.

Though, it was just like Kaito to have a boyfriend even weirder than he was. The _kind_ of weird was really unexpected (read: 'terrifying'), but the fact that he _was_ weird fit Kaito just fine.

She sighed after another moment, then pulled out her phone and dialed Hakuba-kun's number. It only rang once before he answered, " _Nakamori-san? Is something wrong?_ "

"Ah… Aoko was wondering if you know about Kudo-san and Kaito? Kudo-san was, um, uncomfortable with the sun, so they said to talk to Tou-san and you…"

There was a long, long pause before Hakuba-kun sighed heavily, " _If by 'know about' you mean the romantic relationship and vampirism, then yes. Kudo-san is… strangely in control. The only time I've seen Kuroba looking anything but healthy since what happened to Kudo-san was the morning after Kudo-san had been shot, and Kuroba admitted to having…_ prompted _the obvious hypovolemia. I doubt he's in any danger from Kudo-san._ "

That was a little comforting, even if the fact that Kaito had, er, _fed_ Kudo-san was something she had never, ever wanted to know. "Thanks, Hakuba-kun," she managed despite the twist of awkwardness and discomfort, "Aoko feels a little better about it, now." Very little, but she could see what Kaito had to say when Kudo-san wasn't nearby.

Hakuba-kun gave a brief farewell and Aoko closed her phone, determined not to think about it for the rest of the evening. She would just have to track down Kaito tomorrow.

 _xxxx_

"So," Kaito looked away, closing his eyes briefly as he let out a shuddering breath, "Your luck definitely trumps mine."

He heard Shinichi echo the sigh and the click of a phone opening, "My luck," was the dryly resigned reply, "seems to trump _everyone's._ Except Kid's on heists, but I think that's less 'luck' than a solid distraction that keeps people from _wanting_ to kill in the general vicinity, and the knowledge that there's a very good chance they'd get caught in the act."

Huh. That was… actually a reasonable theory. Still, he'd rather not look at this, and he didn't need more than a glance to paint it out in near-perfect entirety for the level of detail he could physically see from where he stood. The edges would blur with time, he knew that, but not as much as he would like them to.

(No matter what the misconceptions were, 'eidetic' was not 'perfect' was not 'photographic'. The edges _did_ soften a little, with time. Not much, but a little.*)

He listened to Shinichi reporting the murder and stayed where he was as his Meitantei moved deeper into the scene, giving up on not looking. He focused on Shinichi, though, instead of the scene itself, and saw the edge of angry grief. No horror, no disgust past something that asked 'why?', no surprise or fear.

Shinichi saw these things too often. But there was blood, a _lot_ of blood, and as carefully as Shinichi sidestepped smears and splatter, it still seemed a miracle that he managed to avoid it all. Or maybe just practice, too much practice, and Kaito wanted to call him away, to take him and hide him from the horrors that something seemed intent on having him find.

Sirens, and the train station personnel that were keeping the area cleared were looking relieved at them, except the one older man who was huddled near the open door, pale and shaking and not looking aware at all. (Maintenance supply closet, a large room with heavy shelving units and a fairly wide space of open floor. The dead person—slender man or woman, Kaito wasn't sure and didn't want to look closely enough to find out—mostly face-down, one shoulder held slightly up by the bottom shelf of one of the sturdy steel units, and blood _everywhere._ The door's lock had been broken, fairly hard to see from the outside, but the wood of the door-frame splintered apart inside. Meaning? No—leave that to Shinichi, Shinichi who would get it right in the end. This wasn't magic tricks used for murder while Shinichi was sick with fever, and Kaito didn't want to look closely enough to try and figure it out.)

"Kuroba-kun?" Takagi's voice cut through his musings, and Kaito cast another glance at Shinichi in time to see the subtle shift.

Tightness around his eyes, shaking his head slightly as he turned to pick his way back towards the door. Shinichi was dropping some of his 'working face', letting a little of his tension show through, and Kaito was both impressed (what better way to reinforce his cover?) and saddened (tension, but not the subdued, resigned horror he saw even in most of Shinichi's Division One officers when they walked into a new scene. Shinichi was too used to this).

"Hey, Takagi-keiji," Kaito managed a wan smile, glancing to where Sato was talking to the workers. "It's pretty bloody in there."

Takagi looked past him as Shinichi stepped up behind him, eyes widening at the sight. "Ano…" he swallowed, and his eyes flicked to where Kaito presumed Shinichi's face was. "That's…"

"Takagi-keiji," Shinichi greeted, an edge to his voice before he started laying out what he'd found.

(Slender man, apparently, young—younger than them, even. And of _course_ he was, because why would it ever be the less horrible option? Beaten to death, and that kind of _violence…_ )

It was going to take hours to round up his acquaintances for questioning, because this wasn't the kind of crime done by a passing stranger. Takagi apologized, and asked them to come to the station.

Kaito nodded even as he heard Shinichi agree.

 _xxxx_

"I'm sorry, Kaito," Shinichi murmured, seeing the unhappy cast to his boyfriend's features. (That thought was going to take some getting used to, but… it wasn't bad, even a little nice, to be able to think it.) "Are you okay?"

Kaito glanced at him, then shook his head, "It's not your fault, Shinichi," he smiled slightly, not happy, but tired and fond. "I'm fine. How are you holding up?"

Shinichi considered the nearness and obvious (and some less obvious) eavesdropping of varying Division One officers; most notably Chiba and Shiratori while Sato and Takagi continued tracking down possible culprits; and sighed, tonguing a fang almost absently. "Might need the rest of that," he admitted.

True as it was, he'd been hoping to get away with waiting until home. He _was_ getting a little shaky, though, and the cracked ribs earlier definitely hadn't helped. Not-yet-solved case stress only made it worse.

Kaito frowned at him, but produced the thermos and passed it over. (Even the outside was still cool, and how did he _do_ that without it even showing that he was carrying it?) "You sure that'll be enough?"

Shinichi unscrewed the lid and gave a wry half-shrug, "Not really, but I have two more packets and I'm pretty sure you're carrying at least three. Not to mention the ones you passed out around here."

"Yeah, but you said it's not quite the same, and that _was_ pretty… you know…" Kaito grimaced, waving a hand, and Shinichi thought that even if he wasn't sure about 'in love', he definitely loved Kaito. He was helping so much, in so many ways, even when it wasn't fun.

Even when it meant walking into murder scenes.

Shinichi sighed, flipped through possible replies based on the many, many vampire stories he'd been looking through of late, and came up with one that might make this a little easier. "Dead blood isn't exactly appetizing," he informed, tone dryly candid. "Most of that… was." Both things were true—a fair amount of that blood had been forced out of the body by the strength of the blows, almost certainly _after_ death, and dead blood really wasn't appetizing. (Neither was 'live' blood, but Division One didn't need to know that.)

Kaito made a face, "I didn't want to know that."

"Yeah," Shinichi sighed, rubbing a hand over his face, "Neither did I."

Kaito hesitated, looking rather like he was fighting with himself, before he sighed, "Okay, I feel like I have to ask: what's the difference?"

That got a little more obvious attention, and Shinichi hesitated, glanced around, then shook his head in a resigned manner, "I don't—it just… it's _stale,_ somehow. Acrid. The _synthetic_ smells more appetizing."

"Huh," Kaito thought about that, then he smirked teasingly, "and I'm 'better than coffee'?"

Oh, for… Shinichi felt himself flush and covered his face with both hands. "Damn it, Kaito, don't bring that up _here._ "

"You're the one who _said_ it~" Kaito sang, and, as embarrassed as he was, Shinichi was grateful.

Kaito was still here, was going to _stay,_ and somehow found the good cheer to distract him when everything was starting to feel kind of suffocating. "You suck," he informed, lowering his hands to give a halfhearted glare.

Kaito grinned brightly, "Nope—that's you~!"

(The case was solved, of course. The supposed 'best friend', enraged over a girl spurning him for the one he'd killed—who had then turned down her confession. Depressing, stupid, _sick_ —but having Kaito wrap an arm around his shoulders as they left made it feel a little less dark.)

 _xxxx_

A tired "Tadaima," cut across the silence in the library, where Yuusaku was sitting with his wife, both of them staring down at cups of coffee and feeling thoroughly guilty. It wasn't _Shinichi's_ fault that death seemed to trail him like a particularly persistent puppy, and after a good, hard look at their reasoning, it was unfortunately clear that part of the reason they had left (a _large_ part, at that) was all the death.

It took him a moment to gather his voice, "Okaeri," he called back, setting his mug down to stand. Two sets of footsteps answered, and quiet murmuring, which meant Kaito was here, too. "Boys," Yuusaku greeted, hearing Yukiko getting up behind him.

"Shin-chan, Kai-chan," Yukiko echoed his greeting.

Shinichi looked tired, and Kaito looked a little pale around the edges, himself, but they seemed unharmed, which meant… "What happened?"

"Murder at the train station," Shinichi informed. "Bloody. _Very_ bloody, and it took _hours_ to round up suspects, because the guy who killed him had broken into the maintenance supply and he'd been dead for over an hour by the time someone actually found him."

And 'train station' really answered the rest of that. "Ah."

"Yeah," Kaito agreed, "but Shin-shin caught him in the end."

"Shinichi always does," Yuusaku observed, and was a little surprised by the way Shinichi ducked his head a little, flushing at the statement.

Yukiko bounced closer, clearly forcibly throwing off her melancholy, "Kai-chan, I meant to ask… why do you call Shin-chan 'Shin-shin'?"

Kaito grinned, "Because 'Shin-chan' is reserved for you."

Oh? That could mean any number of things, but Yukiko brightened more honestly on hearing it. "Have you two had dinner?"

Shinichi shook his head, "We've been stuck at the police station."

"For how long?" Yuusaku wondered before he thought to censor himself.

"Since about four this afternoon," Shinichi sighed.

Kaito made a face, and Yuusaku had to sympathize. It was after eleven. (That was far faster than most cases were solved, unless there were eye-witness or cameras involved. Except, that wasn't so true, in Tokyo… because of his son. Shinichi did amazing things, and he'd forgotten that somewhere along the line.)

"Come on, then," Yuusaku glanced at his wife, who was already moving towards the kitchen. "Let's find you something to eat."

 _xxxx_

 _*I actually have eidetic memory. It's handy for a lot of things, especially scholastically, but it is_ not _the 'perfect recall' that so many people in (and out) of fandom think it is. It is easier to remember, true. Things that happened yesterday and things that happened ten or more years ago usually have the same relative clarity, if they weren't standard-routine and thus assigned 'low priority' by my brain. Things that happened_ today _are always very clear, but a night's sleep is organization-time, and the important things (or at least_ different _things) stay while the routine things get shuffled down with their same-routine predecessors. Bit of overlap, there, and while exact wording often remains, sometimes I-interpreted-it-as paraphrasing happens._


	28. Aquaint

_Well, I shall be heading out on a trip tomorrow. I will be gone for roughly two weeks. I may have some time to write while I am gone, but it is unlikely that I will be able to post, so don't get your hopes too high. I will_ try, _but I make no promises._

 ** _28  
Acquaint_**

That night, once Kaito was (once again) ensconced in the guest room that Shinichi was debating offering to him entirely as a standing permanent welcome, Shinichi changed into his pajamas and sat down for a good hard look at how he felt about the physical parts of this as-yet unstably new relationship and why.

First: hugs. No real change there, Kaito had taken to occasionally clinging on him (or picking him up and cuddling him like a teddy bear) when he was Conan, and while sometimes it was _annoying,_ it had never been the kind of uncomfortable that would have undoubtedly stopped Kaito from doing it. Hugs/clinging/random pounces/etc. were mostly okay, although Shinichi supposed if Kaito managed to completely surprise him, it might get a little messy. Surprise touch wasn't… well, he'd had people gunning for him for long enough to have a certain mindset about that kind of thing, but Kaito knew that; and he was a bit crazy, but he wasn't stupid. Kaito wouldn't pull that kind of stunt on purpose.

Second: kisses. Those… _were_ uncomfortable, or at least 'not comfortable'. The little ones that Kaito had been giving him from time to time weren't _bad_ , exactly, but he wasn't too sure about them otherwise and Kaito had been keeping them short and quick. The kiss in front of Hakuba… yeah, no. _Not_ comfortable. But most people liked those kind of things, or at least didn't _dislike_ them, from what Shinichi had read and observed. (Too close, too _close_ and that was _dangerous_.)

That thought made a little more sense, but Kaito _would not_ intentionally hurt him, and the hugs had never been a real problem—no. They had at the very beginning, but the first real hug-like contact had been falling from a blimp and the discomfort had been overridden by the fear of falling. Then, then—after that, it had felt safe. Kid had held him and it had been literally life-saving, and that particular bit stayed with him. He hadn't been able to get more than annoyed when Kid grabbed him after that.

Which… rather meant that he'd need an overriding concept linked in on the kissing, too, and it wasn't something he was going to worry about until he'd had at _least_ a night's sleep.

Shinichi sighed, rubbing a hand over his face and glancing at the clock before grimacing. He shouldn't still be awake. And he wasn't going to be getting any further with this without looking at his reactions in the moment, preferably with Kaito aware of what he was doing so he could cooperate _._ If Shinichi didn't know exactly what was causing the response, he couldn't work on it, and he _wanted_ this to work. Wanted Kaito to be a permanent part of his life. (And maybe he'd get that anyway, but _Kaito_ would be happier if it worked, and that was more than enough reason to try.)

He wasn't going to think about anything further than kisses at the moment. It was _way_ too soon for that.

Meanwhile, tomorrow he had something like an appointment with Haibara somewhere around 'obnoxiously early' and she hadn't said _when_ the kids were going to be there, although she would probably tell him while vampire-ing blood samples. Apparently the kids were more important than the check-up and (he hoped) final modifications on his canine teeth, since she'd only texted about them. And while he didn't disagree with that—he hadn't seen the kids in over two months—he _was_ a little surprised she hadn't reminded him about the appointment.

Kaito, on the other hand, had said he needed to get back to Ekoda. He hadn't been planning to stay the night, but wrapping up that murder had taken so long that he had anyway.

And Shinichi could _not_ get his brain to shut up. He sighed, stood, and made his way down the stairs to the kitchen to fix himself a mug of SynthBlood. Which, really, it was weird how it was actually becoming a bit of a comfort drink instead of just a nutritional supplement. When he'd first tried it, he'd thought all he'd ever manage was 'tolerate', but maybe excessive amounts of iron were an acquired taste.

(The tang in Kaito's mouth had been tempered by sugar-mint, and for all that he'd freaked himself out, that part hadn't been entirely unpleasant. No, wait, he was _not_ thinking about that. Nope.)

 _xxxx_

Ran sighed, eying her phone. Shinichi hadn't called her, and she'd been busy with school and trying to keep her father in line, but then… well, Shinichi had told her to call when _she_ was ready, which meant he wasn't going to.

It had taken the better part of the night after she'd seen him to admit to herself that he, Sato-san, and Takagi-keiji couldn't be playing a mean prank on her. Shinichi didn't go for mean pranks, anyway, but… well, it would have been a relief, if it _had_ been one.

It had taken the entirety of the next day (including some very distracted moments during class when she really should have been paying attention to her professors) to agree that Takagi was probably right. The thought was still terrifying, though, and it took her another day to decide she'd rather have a vampire for a friend than lose Shinichi.

It wasn't _his_ fault, after all. It really wouldn't be fair to punish him for something he had no real control over. Which was exactly what she'd spent the better part of the last three days doing.

She needed to call him. But now she was nervous for an entirely different reason than the whole 'creature of the night' thing (although Shinichi had been out in daylight. She wondered how many of the stories were true and how many were just to either make them seem scarier or less scary*). She'd left Shinichi hanging for almost three days, and now she felt more than a little ashamed of herself for it. What if he was mad at her?

Then again, it was _Shinichi._ He was probably just terrified that she wouldn't ever speak to him again. And it really wasn't fair to leave it like that.

Ran groaned at herself for her stalling, snapped her phone open, and hit Shinichi's number before she could psyche herself into stalling longer. Even if he _was_ mad, he was on the other end of a phone line. Really all he could do was yell, and Shinichi didn't yell.

Three rings in, Shinichi picked up. " _Ran?_ " he asked, sounding a little slurred. " _Is something wrong?_ "

She glanced at the clock—no, it was past nine. She'd had the chance to sleep in because she didn't have classes today. Why was he still—oh. Right. Vampire. They were supposed to be nocturnal. "I'm sorry; did I wake you?"

There was a pause, " _Ah, yeah. Sorry, I've been trying to keep to a normal sleep schedule, but last night I didn't even get home until after eleven with the murder at the train station, and my parents are home._ "

"They're still there?" That was a little surprising. The elder Kudos didn't usually stay more than a day or two.

" _They overheard—you know, it's not important. They're just feeling guilty about having been gone so much, I think._ " Another pause, hesitant, " _Are… are we okay, Ran?_ "

Ran huffed out a breath, relief and mild guilt twisting together. He really _had_ been worried. "Of course we are, Shinichi. I just had to wrap my head around the fact that you've been _wrong_ all these years."

" _Shut up; it's not funny._ "

"It's a little funny," she decided, because it was. The ironic kind.

A sigh, " _Some of the reactions are,_ " Shinichi conceded, carefully. " _But overall… I'm managing, and Kaito's been a big help, but…_ "

He didn't really want to talk about it, from the tone, and she did have a question that sentence gave a great opening to ask. "Who is 'Kaito', anyway, Shinichi? Do you have a boyfriend?"

" _Now I do,_ " he replied after moment, bashful. " _Kuroba Kaito. He asked me the night before last._ "

"Oh?" but that was after she'd heard the very suggestive comment over the phone, "Then what was the 'you can bite me anytime' about?"

" _Incorrigible flirt meets vampire,_ " Shinichi informed, wry. " _And I think he even_ meant _it in the second sense. He_ has _—ah. Nevermind._ "

She wasn't sure whether to pale or start teasing. "I don't need to know that," she managed, somewhat strangled, before a series of thumps on the stairs made her wince. "Otou-san," she groaned, "I'm sorry, Shinichi. I need to go make sure my dad didn't break his neck. I think he just fell down the stairs."

Shinichi made a sound that came off like a verbal wince, " _Right. Good luck, then._ "

"If you have time later today, you should come over," Ran invited. "Bring your man, if you can."

Shinichi laughed, " _I'll try. No promises. The kids are going to be over at the Hakase's, soon, and Haibara invited me. Apparently I'm the next best thing to my cousin, and I… well, I can't turn them down, for that._ "

"All right," a flicker of melancholy spiked in her chest, but there was a kind of fond amusement, too. Those kids… Conan had really been the head of their little group, and that they sought out a young man in his place really said a lot about how much they missed him. (She missed him a lot.)

Before she could work up a better response, a pathetic moan from the stairwell prompted her to hurry up, "I've got to go, Shinichi; I'll talk to you later," she hung up before he could respond and went to go look down the stairs. Sure enough, her father was lying in a twitchy heap on the middle landing in front of the Agency's door. A quick check proved nothing was broken or otherwise seriously damaged, although he was going to have some spectacular bruises. "Otou-san…"

She sighed, shaking her head. Her father was harder to take care of then Conan had ever been.

 _xxxx_

Aoko rang Kaito's doorbell and waited, not entirely sure he was home. She was just reaching to ring again when she heard him from behind her, "Aoko?"

She turned, eyed him suspiciously for a moment (he looked like he'd slept just fine, although she had long harbored a suspicion that he didn't actually need to sleep at all, because he seemed to have some perpetual wellspring of hyperactive energy), then decided his wariness was too genuine for it to be right to let it linger. "Hey, Kaito. I wanted to talk to you."

He hesitated, then nodded and stepped past her, unlocking his door and letting her into the house. "What's wrong?"

She raised both eyebrows at him, and he paused, then shrugged. "If it's about Shinichi…"

"Um. Kind of? How come you've never even mentioned him before?" It hurt, that he hadn't told her about someone who obviously meant a lot to him, and the fact that Kudo-san was a _vampire_ made her more than a little nervous.

Kaito grimaced, swallowing. "I… okay, look, Aoko. Shinichi's dad is my godfather, and my dad was his. I'd seen him a few times when we were little, but after Oyaji died… his parents stopped bringing him around. I met him again a little over four years ago, and it took me a while to remember who he was. I thought… honestly, at the time I thought he was an arrogant bastard, but…"

Aoko frowned, wanting to reach out to him when something unidentifiable flickered across his face, "… but?" she prompted.

Kaito sighed, "… but then we actually started to get to know each other. I was at the point of thinking he wasn't so bad when we figured out about the 'godfathers' thing, and then… gods, then—it was that syndicate he helped bring down. He got poisoned and had to go into hiding, and I shouldn't even have _tried_ to see him, but I did anyway because I _had_ to know if he was okay, and he was so _sick,_ and I thought…" his voice broke, and for a moment he just breathed.

Aoko stared, shocked at his tone. Kaito was a lot of things, but she hadn't heard that kind of choked fear from him before. Not _ever_. Then he kept going, talking about fearing Kudo-san was going to die and the crime group that Kudo-san had helped to bring down—or, rather, 'spearheaded the destruction of'—of being amazed and awed and humbled in turns, between frustration and fear and helpless rage.

Kaito wasn't 'crushing on' Kudo-san.

Kaito was hopelessly in love.

Which… it explained why he'd never wanted to go out with her, and the fact that he was in love with a guy made her feel a lot better. If Kaito was gay, then it was never anything she'd done, or not done, or anything like that. The fact that he'd been terrified for Kudo-san's life also explained why he'd never spoken of him, or even admitted to liking someone who wasn't her. She knew herself well enough to know she would have demanded an introduction, or at least a name and explanation, and if Kaito hadn't provided them, she would have been hurt and angry and not sure if he was telling the truth.

So. That _did_ make her feel better.

(Also, it meant him flipping her skirt wasn't because he was a pervert—it was just because he liked to make her mad. She wasn't sure whether that was better or worse.)

And when Kaito went starry-eyed and soft-smiled speaking of Kudo-san, it was really, really hard to disapprove or be worried.

There was a lingering question, though. "Kaito is the, um, vampire thing… safe?"

"Safe?" he asked, blinking at her, "You mean for me? It's _Shinichi._ He'd rather die than kill. He's _always_ been that way. Inari bless him, he'd rather die than let an _enemy_ die—he tried to save the man who'd poisoned him, and that man was an assassin with a _personal vendetta_ against Shinichi for breaking his perfect kill record."

Oh. Well. That was weirdly comforting. Aoko nodded. "Okay, then. Come on, we're going."

Kaito blinked at her as she grabbed his arm and started dragging him towards his front door, "Wait, what?"

"We're going to go see your man," she told him. "Aoko wants to meet him _properly._ "

Kaito gaped at her for a full three seconds before beaming.

Aoko nodded to herself. Kaito was her best friend and the closest thing she had to a sibling. She'd missed out on something very important in his life over the past few years, and she was definitely going to make up at least some of that lost time.

 _xxxx_

"You finished talking to your sister, yet?" Haibara drawled, not _quite_ sardonic.

Shinichi grimaced at her, reaching over to take the cup of water she was waving at him, savoring the wetness against his too-dry tongue. He ignored her question to ask one of his own as soon as he was sure he could manage without fumbling over the words, "Are you finished tampering with my teeth?"

"Smile," she ordered in lieu of reply, and Shinichi sighed and bared his fangs at her, not bothering with the 'smile' as he knew she really only needed to see the results of her work.

She nodded, looking pleased, "The effect is convincing and you seem capable of closing your jaw normally. You're not lisping noticeably. Yes, I do believe that your fangs are fully developed."

"Ugh," he made a face, "Really, Haibara, do you have to make it sound like that?"

She smirked back at him, "The kids will be here within twenty minutes. Do please roll up your sleeve; I still need samples."

"Are you _trying_ to make me have to drink your SynthBlood in front of them?"

The innocently saccharine smile was about as blatant a 'yes' as he'd ever seen.

"I hate you, Haibara."

She only tapped up a vein and started getting her samples for the week, "No, you don't."

No, he didn't. He wasn't inclined to admit it out loud at that moment, though. He may not hate her, but he still thought she was _evil._

 _xxxx_

 _*If you think about the vampire stories, you've got some things to make vampires seem quite terrifying—effective immortality, lack of morals, fangs, blood drinking and ability to turn others into their kind, enhanced speed/strength/senses, shapeshifting, etc… and then you have the other side, the parts to make them seem at least somewhat possible to manage or avoid—aversion to fire, moving water, religious symbols, wood and/or silver, dead man's blood and/or holy water, needing to gain permission to enter a human's home, and similar things. Then you've got the one that really can go either way—aversion to sunlight. Humans as a whole have a natural distrust of the dark, being designed to be diurnal and lacking much in the way of night-vision. Seeing as how we're, quite frankly, more prey than predator in build and quite a few predators are nocturnal, the 'only out at night' part brings a certain amount of instinctive fear. However, it is_ also _a limitation, indicating you are safe during the day, so long as you are in sunlight's reach. I'm going to be having a lot of fun making the things that they end up having to use more clear as time goes on._


	29. Disseminate

_Yay for coffee shops! Also, hours and hours of layover in airports is conducive to writing._

 _disseminate: to spread information_

 ** _29  
Disseminate_**

"Shinichi-san!" Mitsuhiko blinked, surprised at the teenager glaring grumpily at Haibara-san as she passed him a large mug of what he assumed was coffee. Shinichi-san wasn't Conan-kun, but he was a lot _like_ Conan-kun, and they felt a lot more like the Shonen Tantei-dan when he was there.

He didn't know what had happened to Conan-kun, but Ran-san had looked so _sad_ when they'd asked her. (He didn't want to think about what that might mean. They were just kids, he _knew_ that, but Conan-kun had taught them a lot. About friendship and loyalty and kindness as well as detective work… and death. The reality was that Conan-kun had almost died in that cave, and many more times besides, though the cave had been the worst injury. But… the adults wouldn't hide it from them if Conan had died, would they? Even children were told when a friend wasn't ever going to come home.)

He suddenly realized they'd never asked Shinichi-san and the flare of hope was impossible to ignore or even slow. Shinichi-san didn't even have time to return his initial surprised greeting before Mitsuhiko continued, completely without meaning to. "Do _you_ know what happened to Conan-kun?"

Shinichi-san blinked, clearly startled, "No one _told_ you?"

Ayumi-chan and Genta-kun both zeroed in on that the same time Mitsuhiko did, "So you do know?"

"Where's Conan-kun? Is he all right?" Ayumi-chan looked so desperately worried that Mitsuhiko winced, not having intended to stir that up.

"Conan's fine, right?" Genta demanded in the almost-angry voice he got when he was worried.

Shinichi-san closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with an expression of exasperation not unlike the one Conan wore when the Shonen Tantei did something less than smart. Mitsuhiko tried not to bristle, and found himself slightly mollified by Shinichi-san's muttered, "You know, there are some things that the adults in your lives are _idiots_ about."

Genta paused, "Eh?"

"Conan… you know about the case I was working on, the one with the big group of bad guys?"

Mitsuhiko nodded, glancing at the other two to make sure they were recognizing it, too.

Shinichi-san lowered his hand and looked at them properly before he continued, and there was something just a little _off_ when he spoke. Conan-kun probably would figure out what it was instantly, but Mitsuhiko was more interested in what they were _finally_ being told. "When my part in the takedown got leaked, one of the higher Organization operatives found out that Conan's related to me. He instantly became a target, and the FBI took him into protective custody and gave him a new identity in America. You can't tell people about it—it's likely that the remnants already suspect something like that, but it's still safer for all of you, _including_ Conan, if you guys don't talk about it."

"But…" Mitsuhiko looked helplessly at the other two and found himself seeming like the spokesperson, "… doesn't that mean we won't be able to talk to him again? Why would he…"

"Can't you think of a reason?" Haibara-san asked, dry but not unkind.

"I…" he could, "If he knew it would keep us safer."

"Yes," Haibara-san agreed. "Edogawa-kun would not abandon you, but he _would_ leave you if it meant your safety."

"That's not fair!" Genta burst out, "He's our friend, we could protect him!"

"Yeah," Ayumi agreed, scowling.

"Do you remember the cave? Where Edogawa-kun was shot?" Haibara-san raised an eyebrow.

All three of them silenced at that, because they did. They did, and it had been terrifying, running away from people who wanted to kill them as Conan-kun had grown weaker and weaker, trying so hard to keep them calm and safe even as he'd been bleeding out. And… he'd pushed them ahead of him, knocked all three of them aside as the gun first went off.

Mitsuhiko didn't know which one of them he'd taken that bullet for. He didn't want to, either. "He wouldn't let us get hurt, and he got hurt protecting us." Would _never_ let them get hurt, if there was any way to prevent it, even if it meant taking a wound himself, and was so much smarter than they were that he always saw danger coming first.

"And he does have parents, as much as he rarely saw them. They _do_ have the power to tell the FBI 'yes' _for_ him," Haibara pointed out.

Mitsuhiko had forgotten that part and he frowned, subsiding at the thought.

Shinichi-san sighed, "I have contacts in the FBI," he told them. "Even I can only rarely talk to him, and then only through carefully secured channels, but… I can pass on messages when I am able."

Which was more than anyone else got, if what Mitsuhiko had heard about the way the FBI set up that kind of thing was true. Which was something. Not much, but… something. He looked at Shinichi-san properly, intending to thank him for it, and paused.

"Shinichi-san… you look really pale. Are you okay?"

Haibara-san cast him a sharp glance before eying the mug in front of him, which was still full. "Kudo-kun, you are supposed to be _drinking_ that, not waiting until you pass out and I have to find your minder."

Shinichi-san growled at her, sharp teeth glinting in the lights, but raised the mug and drank anyway.

Mitsuhiko took several seconds to work through the image, and it was really Genta-kun's shaky, pointing declaration of "V-v-vampire!" that made it click.

Shinichi-san grimaced, licking red from his lips, and Haibara-san breezed past them towards the refrigerator. "It's fine, everyone. He's really quite nice, as vampires go. He mainly drinks that synthetic."

"I _can_ eat like a normal person, Haibara," Shinichi-san groaned, and that was _exactly_ the tone that Conan-kun used with her, long-suffering and exasperated. No wonder so many people compared Conan-kun to his older cousin.

She pulled something small and dark from the refrigerator and threw it at him.

He caught it easily, and it took a moment to see that it was a bar of dark chocolate—dark enough that refrigerating it probably wasn't even needed to keep it hard, but maybe that was just where they kept all the chocolate.

Shinichi-san only rolled his eyes and tore the wrapper, tilting the corner of the bar between his fangs to snap off a piece between his more normal front teeth. It was a distinct method of biting, showing that he was at least used to working around the longer (and sharper) bicuspids, and while Mitsuhiko wanted to protest Genta's stuttering explanation, neither Shinichi-san nor Haibara-san had. Which they _would_ have, if Haibara-san stayed even remotely true to form and Shinichi-san was as much like Conan-kun as he seemed… unless it was _true._

"Ano…"

"Will it help if I promise not to bite anyone who doesn't ask for it?"

"Literally," Haibara added, grinning her 'I have something to hold over your head' grin.

"Shinichi-nii-san is nice," Ayumi-chan decided out loud. "Ayumi won't hate Shinichi-nii-san for something that isn't his fault."

That was something Mitsuhiko could agree with, and Genta's blustering splutter meant he did, too, even if he didn't want to say it out loud.

Shinichi-san's expression eased, a tension Mitsuhiko hadn't noticed until it was gone dissipating.

He gave in to his curiosity. If vampires were real, he _had_ to ask. "So, which of the commonly held beliefs are true?"

Shinichi-san chuckled, shaking his head. "I should have known. You guys… well, the blood and healing are pretty much like the legends go. Sunlight gives me headaches after a while, and fire makes me nervous but I haven't tested that any further. Nothing in the way of religious symbols seems to be a problem, though, and we _are_ still figuring this out. It's not like it came with a manual."

"Maybe we can help you guys figure it out," Ayumi-chan declared, and Shinichi-san huffed a laugh.

"Maybe you can, but for today I think I'd rather just relax. Should we see what new game the Hakase's cooked up for you?"

Shinichi-san wasn't Conan. He didn't hover a little awkwardly at the edges and sometimes fail at trying to fit in. He didn't know what was going on in Kamen Yaiba if they didn't tell him, and he didn't play the games Agasa made. He wasn't in their class and didn't walk with them to the park to play soccer or baseball after school.

But Shinichi-san was _like_ Conan. He helped with their homework when they asked and treated them like people, not little kids. He watched them play the Hakase's games with a smile and sometimes agreed to help them improve their soccer footwork, though he always declined to play against them and flat-out refused to play baseball, saying that it was 'Hattori's thing'. (After playing soccer against Conan-kun, who could wipe the field with them three or four against one, he wasn't sure he wanted to see what would happen if they played against Shinichi-san. It would be the sports equivalent of a massacre.)

Just because Shinichi-san had developed fangs and a taste for blood sometime in the last two months didn't mean things had to change. Well, aside from maybe the times they chose to drag him off to teach them new soccer tricks. Afternoon probably wasn't the best, anymore.

 _xxxx_

Kaito had been so, so gratefully _relieved_ at Aoko's acceptance (he'd been worried, at first, because she only used first-person pronouns when she was really serious or upset) that it had taken him several moments to remember that dropping in on Shinichi unannounced while he was in his little 'doctor's appointment' was probably not the best idea. Shinichi wouldn't mind if it were just him—he'd proven that several times over—but Aoko?

Also, Kaito had a few quick things to take care of before he could do anything else. His online coursework was complete, of course. He could do that from Shinichi's home as easily as his own, after all. The doves and his classroom-courses, on the other hand… "Hang on, hang on," Kaito didn't let his best friend pull him out the door. "I need to take care of the doves, first, and grab my books for later. And make sure Shin-shin is out of his appointment—his doctor is _scary._ "

Aoko stopped tugging, but paused carefully at the last part. "… Scary?" she asked.

"Terrifying," he informed, grinning. "Worse than my mom on a sugar-high, only without the hyperactivity." Because the Phantom Lady had always been into scare-tactics, and while Kaito was not above mild scares, Kuroba Chikage had moments where she'd terrified even the best of her friends for fun.

Aoko managed a bizarre cross between cringing and relaxing before giving up with a wince, "That kind of scary, huh?"

"That kind of scary," Kaito confirmed, "I'll text Shinichi and take care of the doves, and we'll see if we can't swing a meeting today. You don't have classes, right?"

"Hai," Aoko agreed, "No classes today. I'll go grab Tou-san's bento, and we can drop it off once we know for sure?"

Kaito nodded, waving a semi-dismissive hand, "See you in a little bit," he affirmed, heading towards the doves' room while texting Shinichi a short list of relevant questions.

When he'd finished cleaning the coops and making sure there was plenty of fresh food and water, as well as making sure the chute was clean and clear for those who felt like exploring or following him, he had a list of answers. Kaito was welcome, Aoko was welcome, the kids would be there, Ran might, and text again when he was getting ready to come because the exact location might change.

Kaito grinned, sending back a little ˆ_º~* that Shinichi would probably mock him for at some point (it would be worth it to see him smile) and genuinely happy that Ran was talking to Shinichi again. Not that he'd doubted the detective when he'd said she would, but it had taken less time than he'd feared, and that was something else to smile about.

(He never would have imagined this was where his life would start leading, and he was so grateful that he'd been granted so much. A terrified eight-year-old screaming against the fire could never have guessed that one day he'd be this happy again.)

 _xxxx_

"Shinichi-san, go sit down," a familiarly imperious voice ordered, and Kaito had to work very hard not to 'aww' out loud. There were three children maneuvering Shinichi further into the shade beneath a thickly-leaved tree, Mitsuhiko and Ayumi each pulling on a hand and Genta pushing him from behind while a fourth not-child watched the proceedings with a fondly amused smirk.

Aoko didn't restrain herself, "That's so adorable!"

Kaito grinned as Shinichi huffed in exaggerated resignation, deftly twisting out of the children's grips and dropping down to sit with his back against the sturdy trunk, "You guys…"

Shinichi's overly-sulky tone got the actual little girl to scowl at him, "Shinichi-nii-san, you _know_ the sun's not good for you! You're taking a break."

Kaito couldn't help but laugh as he lead Aoko over to Shinichi and 'his' kids, "You should listen to the little lady, Shin-shin."

Shinichi looked up at him, visibly brightening, and Kaito faltered under the force of his detective's grin. He recovered quickly when Shinichi moved as if to stand, though. "Ah! You heard the lady; I shall join you in the soft grass beneath the gentle wisteria, to share in partaking of the lovely shade—ow!"

Shinichi whapped his calf, cutting off his waxing poetic. "That's enough out of you, you dramatic sap."

Kaito grinned, flopping down into the grass and draping himself halfway across Shinichi's legs. "You love it," he declared.

Shinichi rolled his eyes and started introductions.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi glanced up as a familiar set of footsteps approached the tree that the Shonen Tantei _still_ weren't letting him out from under, pulling his attention from the small-scale (for Kaito, anyway) magic show that had attracted several other children and families aside from the Shonen Tantei and Haibara, who actually seemed to be enjoying herself. The angle made it a little too easy for Shinichi to pick apart the tricks, but it was nice to see Kaito in his element without fan-screams and police shouting as a background.

"He looks just like you, Shinichi," Ran's observation started out startled before shading into something close to disbelieving, and Shinichi remembered several times where Ran had gotten close enough to Kid that her figuring this out wouldn't be entirely impossible. Still, he had a handy distraction.

"Wait until you see _his_ childhood friend," Shinichi offered dryly. "It's ridiculous."

Ran turned to eye him with the sort of wariness that said she knew he was doing something vaguely prank-like but wasn't sure what. "What do you mean?" she asked suspiciously.

Shinichi found himself relaxing a little, eased by the familiarity of the interaction. She wasn't scared of him. "Nakamori-san?" Shinichi called, quiet enough not to interrupt the show but loud enough to catch the girl's attention.

"Hai, Kudo-san?" Nakamori Aoko started, turning, only to blink and have her jaw drop a little as she spotted Ran.

"This is Mouri Ran," Shinichi introduced, smirking a bit. " _My_ childhood friend."

Another blink, and Nakamori started grinning, "I have a twin, too!"

Ran suspicions were completely derailed, "Wow. Okay, Shinichi's right—this _is_ ridiculous! What are the odds?"

Shinichi couldn't help but grin, "Low enough to be completely unavoidable with Kaito and me involved."

Ran laughed at that one, "I don't want to know. You're bad enough on your own."

(The proper introductions—as with anything involving Kaito's somewhat reality-bending stunts—ended up being a production. Ran wasn't the only one who ended up leaving with a new friend and a smile.

Haibara flatly telling him that his life was impossible before stalking off looking disgusted was really just a bonus.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk halfway back to the Kudo manor, "Huh."

Shinichi turned to give him a questioning look.

"We _still_ haven't told your parents."

He watched in amused concern as Shinichi _cringed_.

(Ten minutes later, he found out why.)

 _xxxx_

Yuusaku winced as his wife's tone hit 'squeal' and kept on rising. He wasn't surprised to see Shinichi do the same, although the fact that Kaito managed to cover his almost entirely was impressive. No wonder he made such a good Kaitou KID—his Poker Face, as Toichi would have called it, was impeccable.

Focusing on keeping himself from going deaf was a great way to keep from focusing on the bit of news (no, _no_ thinking about it, not until the boys were out of sight) because he'd been vaguely hoping to never have to sort out the general conflicted mess he had around the whole thing, though he wasn't surprised to end up having that hope dashed.

They weren't being… new couple-y, he supposed. Not really. They were comfortable around each other and Kaito was draping himself over Shinichi's shoulder with an easy grin, but that seemed like an old habit, not a new one in the making.

Kaito also turned his head to give Shinichi a peck on the cheek, and Shinichi rolled his eyes but looked fond when he did it. Of course, Shinichi probably wouldn't appreciate PDAs of any kind, and even less so in front of _parents._

When Yukiko went from her happy (and very elongated) 'squee' to an attempted glomp, though, Shinichi and Kaito relocated two meters sideways in a puff of smoke, leaving the former actress pouting on an otherwise empty patch of floor. It was quite impressive, even moreso that Shinichi and Kaito were in the same position they'd been _before_ the smoke, and Shinichi looked to have taken the sudden shift completely as a given.

…This was going to end up very, very mind-breaking. He just knew it.

 _xxxx_


	30. Reach

_Don't have a lot of time at the moment, but here's a chapter anyway. I'll go home soon, though, so..._

 ** _(30)  
Reach_**

It was embarrassing, but the conversation had needed to happen, so Shinichi broached the 'kissing' subject that night. Kaito had (pretty much as expected) been understanding about it, if a little sad—although the sad was more for the fact that the reaction was that ingrained than anything else, from his muttered sentence.

Shinichi supposed he shouldn't have been surprised when Kaito took to giving him little pecks on the cheek or lips roughly every chance he got the next morning. Similar tactics had worked on abused animals, at least with individual people, so it was a valid thought. Prove that the touch never hurt, and after a while, the flinches eased and the animal would be willing to stand still under a gentle hand.

… the fact that it was an acclimation procedure was obvious to Shinichi, but probably would come off as cutely affectionate to just about anyone else he knew. Weirdly subtle through sheer lack of subtlety.

(His mother squeed when Kaito bounced across the kitchen and pecked him on the nose before handing him a cup of coffee. The tone was half an octave below 'glass-shattering'.)

Kaito passed him a folded piece of paper and murmured, "For Nakamori-keibu's entertainment," before he left for Ekoda, and Shinichi had to cover his eyes.

For Shinichi's entertainment, maybe, but it was more for Nakamori-keibu's unending frustration.

 _I have heard you've been a trifle concerned for me, Nakamori-keibu-san, so I thought I should offer a little proof of wellness._

 _The Auburn Heart of Winter's Sun  
Upon the Cloud of Shadowed Night  
Within the Dark of Witches' Hour  
to Strike and Shrike on New Dawn's day._

 _Kaitou KID_

There followed the traditional bit of artwork, and Shinichi eyed it warily. A shrike was a bird, very small and predatory with the habit of sticking its prey on sharp objects. They tended to leave thorn-bushes and barbed wire fences strung with grasshoppers and similarly-sized prizes. The fact that it was being used as a verb probably had something to do with the return method, and 'strike' was more-or-less equated with 'take', from the usage.

Witches' hour, or 'witching hour' was usually exactly midnight in Western lore, and since Kid had been deeply immersed in Western lore for a while, now, that was probably the time indicated, and the day would be something he could reasonably call 'New Dawn's day' Or maybe just extrapolate as, it _was_ Kid, after all. 'Upon the Cloud of Shadowed Night' had to be the place and 'Auburn Heart of Winter's Sun' was the gem. Shinichi didn't know the gem off the top of his head, though, which meant he was going to have to do research. And get the note to Nakamori, of course.

He should probably do that first, actually. He sighed—he'd much rather just figure out the note himself, but since the notice was for Nakamori _specifically,_ it wouldn't be right to keep it.

Shinichi snapped a picture with his phone and bagged the note, remembering that Kaito had handed it to him with gloved hands. His own fingerprints were likely to be the only ones on it, and even if there was Kaito-related evidence left behind, Shinichi could point out that, well. Kaito, boyfriend. Contamination likely.

He sighed. _Abetting_.

And he didn't even feel guilty for it! Kaito was a _terrible_ influence.

 _xxxx_

Megure showed up to their local vampire's latest body find with Shiratori and Chiba in tow, (Kudo-kun had told him it was bad, body decayed beyond immediate identification) to see Kudo-kun looking a cross between disgusted, exasperated, and impatient.

"What do you have for us, Kudo-kun?" he asked, skipping all polite inquiries for the sake of speed. He could smell _something_ , but it was faint.

Kudo-kun waved back towards the bridge nearby, a small two-lane thing. They were in Ekoda, but only barely, between two train stations and this area was traversed enough that a body should have been found already if it was in the state Kudo-kun had said.

"There's a drainage pipe for water runoff that empties into the canal, here. The body's been stuffed in there. It looks like that recent rainstorm must have pushed it towards the opening, but I had to actively _look_ to see it," he led the way to the pipe in question, which was small enough that Megure would have dismissed it entirely.

"Why did you look?" Chiba asked.

Kudo-kun gave him a disbelieving glance, "The smell, Chiba-keiji. It was too strong for a small animal unless the animal was in easy sight—in which case it would have been scavenged by the local carrion birds by now."

Megure sniffed the air again, and… yes, the rot was there. He probably wouldn't have thought anything of it, and just kept walking. It seemed that everyone else passing through the area had done exactly that.

Then again, Kudo-kun wasn't exactly a normal human, was he? Even before the whole 'creature of the night' thing, he'd stumbled over the dead so often that he probably would have checked a possibly suspicious smell just to be sure.

Kudo-kun waved at the pipe, "In there. From the shape of the skull, probably female. I didn't dare try and get it out, of course—it's going to be messy, to say the least."

The smell was stronger, here, and Megure frowned, peering into the darkness.

Kudo-kun rolled his eyes and took off his watch, holding it up and clicking a button which lit it up like a flashlight, bright and steady. Conan-kun had a watch like that, and so did all his little friends; he'd said that Agasa-hakase had made them. Of course Kudo-kun had ended up with one as well.

And… yes, bone glint and a mat of loose hair, trapped in the pipe by the weight of the skull. The water dripping out past it was rancid, the stink enough to make him back up again into clearer air. The pipe had trapped most of it, though, and likely a lot of water, too. They'd need to be suited up in full HAZMAT gear to deal with it.

"It'll take a while before we can get the body out and get it identified," Megure said after a moment. "Kudo-kun, if you have somewhere to be…?"

Kudo-kun nodded, "I was on my way to Division Two. A certain international criminal left a gift on my refrigerator door that has a prefix addressed to Nakamori-keibu."

The initial spike of alarm faded as Megure realized who Kudo-kun meant. The boy was a trouble-magnet at the best of times, but an international criminal _inside his house_ was certainly a worrying prospect—but if it was Kid, that was… safe enough. Even Conan-kun had hardly ever found a body near Kid's heists, and Megure wouldn't be surprised if Kudo-kun was going to try and take advantage of that. The boy needed a challenge that didn't have death involved.

Although… Nakamori _had_ admitted to Kudo-kun getting shot by a sniper on the last heist, which had been almost two months before. Then again, he'd taken the shot for Kid, and Kid had dropped out of sight for two months, which probably meant the thief was much more prepared to deal with unfriendliness.

Why the _police_ hadn't been allowed to check out adjacent buildings was a different question entirely, and one that Megure didn't like the implications of. He hesitated, then admitted the fact, "Kudo-kun, I know that Kid is probably the least violent international criminal in existence, but I don't like the fact that Nakamori's been stonewalled on staking out other buildings around the heist building. Be _careful_."

Kudo-kun frowned slightly, one lip curling up to show a glint of fang, "Has he, now… we must have missed someone pretty high up, then. All right, I'll look into it. And, _yes,_ I'll be careful. I know how these people operate, Keibu-san. Why do you think I asked Jodie-sensei to get Conan out of here?"

That was a solid point. "Go on, then," Megure waved him off, "Just come back by the precinct in six hours or so; we'll have the body out by then. If we're lucky, we'll even know who it is."

 _xxxx_

Shinichi handed the note over to Nakamori himself and was treated to the sight of the man waffling between relieved and enraged.

And of course he was—he'd been chasing Kid through two generations, even if he hadn't admitted it. He'd lost the first one, and Shinichi was certain some part of him knew that, and that part also recognized this second as a rightful heir. He didn't want to lose another, certainly not to the figures in black that he now _knew_ (even if he couldn't or wouldn't admit it aloud) had something to do with the disappearance of the first.

Nakamori wasn't an idiot. But he wasn't heartless, either, and for all his bluster and cursing, for all his chasing, he'd never really wanted Kid _gone._ Caught, maybe—Shinichi wasn't sure bout that, but the man himself probably believed he wanted Kid caught—but not hurt or killed.

Nakamori ended up defaulting to a 'I'll catch you' speech and Shinichi shrugged and asked to borrow a station computer. Nakamori groused and pointed him towards an officer's desk in the bullpen.

Twenty minutes later, he found the target—a double-brilliant cut imperial topaz, the classic definition, a beautiful orange-red gem that shifted colors like sunset in the light that had been named 'Red Crane's Sun'. Shinichi snorted softly to himself, amused at the somewhat oblique reference* and wondering who had come up with the name.

As for the 'shadowed night' bit… that had more to do with the owner's name—specifically the kanji used in it—than anything else. 'The Cloud of' was the building name, more-or-less, as the man was having it displayed in the lobby of a hotel he owned, a ritzy sort called 'Hotel Imber*', probably because someone was feeling poetic… that or they just liked the sound of the word and didn't know what it meant.

Either way, Shinichi had the answer, so he go up (ignoring the wary glances from the Taskforce officers in the room) and went to tap on Nakamori's door again.

A barked " _What!?_ " had him shrug and enter, only to find Nakamori glowering down at the note Shinichi had brought him.

"Red Crane's Sun, being displayed at Hotel Imber at midnight in four days," Shinichi told him. A little thought had given him the day: although it was a bit of a stretch, there was no other date in a short enough period of time to qualify. Every once in a while, Kid would send out a notice more than a week ahead, but he had _never_ sent one out more than two, and Shinichi was inclined to think that he was going to be shortening the time between note and heist, to give his rather unfriendly black-clad followers less time to scout and mobilize. The police (currently) had greater resources.

If they were careful, they could probably get that to continue.

Nakamori eyed him for a moment, looked up the named gem on his computer, and grunted acknowledgement. "You coming?" he asked.

Shinichi paused as if considering, though the answer had been decided before the heist gem had been chosen. "Yes," he informed after a moment. "If I can keep Kaito back and don't run into any murders. The sniper last time was… _worrying._ If I'm right, they're one of the subsidiaries of the group I was tracking with the FBI and Secret Police. If I can get a visual, I should be able to verify, which would mean I could get resources they can't stonewall brought to bear."

Nakamori sat back, blinking. "You said 'Snake' last time, which sounded like you already knew."

Shinichi shook his head, "I'm almost certain, but I don't have anything other than belief. I saw Snake once, while spying. He was being reprimanded for recklessness in his hunt for Kaitou KID. But all I have is the knowledge that we didn't catch him, he'd been considered reckless by the higher-ups in the Organization, and that he wants Kid dead. That's not _proof,_ and to bring foreign law enforcement in, I'll need something more concrete."

Nakamori grimaced, "Fine. But don't get yourself killed—Kaito would be heartbroken."

"I'm less likely to end up dead than the rest of you," Shinichi stated dryly, pointedly flashing a fang. "But if you want to be helpful, lend me some riot gear."

"Done. Be here at nine the night of."

Shinichi nodded sharply and took that as the dismissal it partly sounded, pulling out his phone as he turned to leave the building. He had a sometimes-thief to call.

 _xxxx_

Kaito emerged from his latest Jii-run plans check when his phone rang, glancing at the screen before answering with a broad grin, "Shin-shin! How's it going?"

The answer was a dryly amused and entirely correct declaration of place, time, and target. Kaito laughed, "Right, right, you got me. Any reason in specific you're calling?"

" _I told Nakamori-keibu I'd find a way to keep you from showing up._ "

Kaito blinked, "Wait, me or…?"

" _You. He doesn't want you involved with Kid's unfriendly guests, and assumes that I, as your supernatural boyfriend, should be able to stop you._ "

Kaito bit back a snicker at the tone, desert-dry and touched with irony. "If you _promise_ to be careful and not get yourself killed in any sort of permanent manner, I won't come to the heist. I don't promise not to hover nearby until it's over, though." Shinichi would get the implications there.

The sigh from the other end of the line said volumes about both Shinichi's understanding and location. " _That's probably the best I'm going to get. I'll be careful. I'll even wear a tracker, if it makes you feel better._ "

Huh. That… would, actually. It would make him feel a _lot_ better. He knew Shinichi wasn't in too much danger from not-immediately-fatal shots, but if something hit him in the head or heart… not that a tracker would do any good, then. But surviving should-be-fatal injuries didn't mean he'd always be fully mobile after one, and what if a bone broke and healed wrong? Give it five hours, and doctors often had to re-break to properly set, but with _Shinichi_ … that timeframe would be a whole lot shorter.

A tracker would mean Kaito could find him _fast_ if he got hurt, and have an excuse to do so, as long as he was out of uniform by the time he got to his detective. "It would," he admitted. "Really. Especially if you gave me some kind of audio or panic button…?"

Shinichi snorted, " _I'll ask the Hakase about it. Stay out of trouble, will you?_ "

"Hai, hai," Kaito grinned, waving off Jii's inquiring glance. "I'll see you tonight?"

" _Maybe,_ " Shinichi temporized, " _I'm not sure about the case I came across earlier, it's…_ messy."

Oh. That sounded ominous. "All right," he replied, far more serious.

" _It's not—it's not_ them, _but… You know what? If I'm not home by nine-thirty, call me. I don't really want to have to deal with this too long._ _I'm not going back to Megure's area until six, so that gives me half an hour to get home if I leave the station at nine._ "

For a messy case, that was fair. If it was as messy as Shinichi was implying, though, it might take more than a day to sort out. Kaito nodded even though he knew Shinichi couldn't see him, "Okay. I'll do that. And Shinichi?"

" _Hm?_ " He sounded more tired than distracted, and Kaito found that concerning.

"Call me if it starts to get bad."

A breath, static crackling across the line. " _All right,_ " Shinichi agreed, only slightly reluctant. " _… thanks._ "

 _xxxx_

 _*Cranes are a winter kimono pattern, from what I've read, and I completely made up the gem._

 _*Imber is an English word which means something along the lines of 'raincloud'. It is used in place of 'rain', 'storm', or 'storm-cloud' in older poetry and hardly ever seen anywhere else._


	31. Cruelty

.

 ** _(31)  
Cruelty_**

When Kudo's phone started ringing while he was in the morgue (which was weirdly ironic), Takagi checked the screen, saw the name ' _Kaito_ ' and answered it.

"Ah, moshi moshi? Kuroba-kun?"

A pause, " _Takagi-keiji?_ "

"Ah, hai, Kudo-kun is downstairs. Should I take a message?"

A sigh, " _Just tell him to call me back. He said he didn't want to have to stay too late tonight, but depending on how he sounds, I might come get him myself._ "

"He lives in Beika, right?" Takagi half-asked. "Still in the Kudo mansion?"

" _Most of the time, yeah,_ " Kuroba agreed.

"My shift is almost over," Takagi told him. "I can give Kudo-kun a ride—it'll get him out of here faster, too. Megure-keibu has an ID on the victim, but he's scheduled for another two hours and might stay even longer if any leads come up."

" _Could you?_ " Kuroba sounded both relieved and grateful, " _It would be a big help if you did. He can't help but find cases_ everywhere _and it's really starting to wear at him. I don't think the whole change in species helped any; he's still a bit off-balance._ "

That made sense. "Sure. I have to go past his street to get to my apartment, anyway. I'll make sure he calls you when we leave."

" _Thanks, Takagi-keiji. I'll see you at the manor._ "

It wasn't until after he had delivered Kudo to Kuroba's care that he realized he'd taken a comment on _species change_ as _reasonable._

Life in Tokyo was _weird._

 _xxxx_

"All in one piece?" Kaito asked, not entirely certain of Shinichi's overall state of health and determined to ignore the hovering-in-the-doorframe parents that belonged to his detective.

Shinichi nodded, "Just tired," he assured. "It was… well. Megure's checking into a few things, and he said he'll leave what he finds with Sato-san for me. This one's going to be slow."

Kaito huffed, "Shinichi, I love you and greatly admire both what you do and that you can do it—but you really need a break."

Shinichi snorted, "I _have_ tried to get one. It doesn't work."

That was a point, there. Kaito had heard some pretty scary stories about Shinichi's attempts at vacations, not to mention the few he'd actually borne witness to. "Okay. Well. You're still invited to my next show?"

Shinichi chuckled, "Yeah, those really are breaks. Just be careful about your more… _enthusiastic_ fans. They're trying to make things more exciting and less fun."

That was _also_ a point, and Kaito was glad he'd been upgrading his equipment. Thinking of… "Hey, would you mind if I asked Agasa-hakase to work with Jii-chan on a few things?"

Shinichi made a strange expression, a combined grin and wince. "Have fun," he offered. "I'll wait on the sidelines until reality rights itself at your next show, hm?"

Kaito laughed, "Thanks! It'll be great!" It totally would—Agasa made some _awesome_ gadgets, and while Jii was certainly far from bad, he generally contracted out for Kid's gear, which was a little nervewracking no matter how standard the contracted gear was. Kaito made his own smoke bombs and the card gun was his father's work and he'd learned how to make it himself, but aside from that he'd needed Jii to get it or to get it himself.

Being an obvious magician meant normal magician's sources for basic gadgetry was a viable option, but still. And Agasa just about broke reality himself with some of those gadgets—seriously? Shoes that upped a kid's kicking power to crack concrete? Soccer balls that exploded into fireworks? Rocket-propelled solar skateboards? Where did he even come _up_ with those ideas?

It was a talented man who managed to have a watch that acted as a satellite-uplink phone, a tranq-gun, _and_ a flashlight as well as being a normal watch seem the least remarkable of his achievements. Although the _size_ of it was very impressive—the actual watch was about the same size as a medium man's watch face, only looking a little oversized on Conan's tiny wrist and looking perfectly fitting on Shinichi's.

If he got Agasa on board, the possibilities would be _endless._

(He couldn't wait!)

 _xxxx_

Four days later, Shinichi had solved the messy case (and two others, though thankfully neither of those had ended in death and only one ended in an actual arrest, as the first of the two managed to get a peaceful, non-criminal resolution) and found himself topping off his impromptu break with a heist.

This was legitimately the closest thing he'd had to an actual vacation in _years._ Four days with no deaths _and_ a heist? Something was probably going to go wrong.

He'd just have to be extra careful, that's all.

(When Kaitou KID showed, Shinichi found himself impressed by the complete turnaround from Kaito's normal self. There were similarities, but KID held himself differently than Kaito did, moved differently, used different voice and inflections and general mannerisms.

Kaito was _good._ And of course Shinichi had already known that, had already seen how different Kaito and KID were, and knew the Kaito he saw was different from the one that Hakuba and his other classmates did. Kaito didn't _hide_ from him. Hadn't for years; most of his interactions with him had been isolated and Kid and Shinichi's Kaito were the same. KID and Kaito weren't, and the person Kaito showed with the other people he knew wasn't the whole of who Kaito _was._ And Shinichi had done the same, both as Conan and now, with the ridiculousness of pretending he was something that he was starting to accept he _was,_ if not in the interpretation that others thought.

This… this might just work out.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito wore Kid as easily as he could slip on a new face, a familiar personality that was a facet of his own, the hero-worship of his father and memory of voice and lessons. Shinichi was there—and he'd decided how Kid would be towards Shinichi now, at least with witnesses.

"Nakamori-keibu, my dear Taskforce… greetings!" he gave a moment's hesitation as he turned his gaze on Shinichi, a slight but visible falter that the inspector would surely catch, though some of his men might not. "Meitantei-san," he added, "You seem… remarkably well, all things considered."

Shinichi gave him a fanged smile, clearly catching on to the angle Kaito was playing. "Surely you've already looked into it, Kid-san?"

"I admit I had doubts at to the veracity of the rumors, but lacked the desire to confront you outside of a scheduled heist. No offense, Meitantei-san, but you are somewhat more intimidating than your younger cousin."

"Only somewhat? Sounds like Conan made an impression."

Kid (not quite so rigid as KID, but not nearly as real as who he could be with only Shinichi) tipped his head, "Indeed. Now, as much as I would like to continue this chat… I do have a show to start. Please stay away from the windows, Meitantei-san. I am uncertain as to what legends are true, and I made plans to compensate for some of my more… _enthusiastic_ fans."

No one had ever accused of Kudo Shinichi of being 'slow' in matters concerning anything but romantic interest directed at him, and even then Kaito was pretty sure Shinichi was less oblivious than intentionally obtuse. The detective's eyes widened slightly as Kid raised a hand, a ball of flame appearing over his palm, and he took several quick steps back in the direction Kid's lazy wave indicated.

Kid nodded slightly, satisfied with the distance, and every window was suddenly covered in curtains of flickering, _bright_ fire. No sniper would be able to aim through something like that, not even with a heat-scope. (Which was exactly the point. While Snake himself might shoot blind if he was angry, most other snipers wouldn't want to waste ammunition or draw that kind of attention to themselves. Even Snake wouldn't, if he was calm enough to think.)

Then the show _really_ began.

 _xxxx_

by the end of it, Shinichi wasn't sure whether to laugh or go rescue the Taskforce—Kaito's ploy with the windows had kept any snipers from going too trigger-happy, although there had been a few attempts at hitting both himself and Kid while they were having a little showdown on the roof.

In reality, the aftermath was even more entertaining than the show had been—there wasn't a single member of the Taskforce who managed to get out in standard uniform—Kaito hadn't removed any body armor this time, a clear acknowledgement of the threat Kid's less savory pursuers posed, but he'd corralled most of them in frankly ridiculous cages (Shinichi could see that enough applied force would have them just coming apart, but they would probably feel solid on lighter testing. A desperate person could break it, and probably even a sharp enough jar, so Kid was again being careful), and just to add insult to injury, each of the normal riot outfits had been turned into stylized animal suits. Specifically, _circus_ animal suits.

Well, mostly. Nakamori was a giant shrike-patterned bird and wearing a fake thorn on his head that had the gem attached to the end.

Apparently Kid got _mean_ when Kaito was happy.

Nakamori was going to be ranting for _hours_ —once he got the beak off.

(Shinichi kept his snickers inside, schooled his features, and went to start the rescue operations.)

 _xxxx_


	32. Cover

.

 ** _(32)  
Cover_**

Of course, the 'rescue operations' were mainly for the Taskforce, but Shinichi had worries about Kid, too. Just because the idiot had managed to check the gem and get it returned without getting shot didn't mean that he could also get away completely cleanly without some other kind of distraction, and it was likely there were some of Snake's men _somewhere,_ and probably Snake himself.

Not the heist building; Shinichi had checked. Not the ones on the north or south, either—neither had good vantage points, both being shorter than the hotel by a fair margin. That left west, as east didn't have a building at all until a distance that only Akai or Chianti could manage an accurate shot from, but Chianti was in prison and Akai was FBI and very much not in the country.

West was of a height with the hotel, and the roof was the most likely sniper's setup, and Kid would have the best chance of getting out unnoticed at ground level, but Kaito wasn't stupid. He'd both checked and returned the gem, which meant he'd already made it to open moonlight. The roof may be his favorite getaway point, but he wouldn't use it knowing it wasn't safe.

So. Shinichi had his own little investigation to do—without pressure, a sniper would keep the setup until the police were gone from the area, as they had the police barred from checking surrounding buildings.

Ground-level—Shinichi was more than a little worried for Snake lying in wait, and Kaito's best bet for a safe exit would be blending with the Taskforce. As Shinichi was the only one without a circus costume, he would be a noteworthy sight and looked for while leaving.

Letting a Taskforce member leave not in riot gear would be obvious, and Kaito trying to slip out without some kind of distraction likely wouldn't work at all, which may well get him shot.

Which left swapping places, which Kaito wouldn't like (and wasn't the best idea anyway), or distraction. Something eye-catching, preferably both loud and bright. Red-orange or white in color, as either one would have Organization members automatically thinking 'explosion'.

Either way, first things first: he had to find Kid.

He let Nakamori out of his cage, and while the man was distracted by starting to unlock the others, Shinichi slipped away, pulling out his tracking glasses with a grin.

 _xxxx_

Kid didn't jump when he heard a casually chirpy "Hi!" from behind him, but it was a very near thing. The following snicker told him his sort-of ambusher had noticed the twitch.

He sighed, "Meitantei-san," he complained, turning around to have the 'vampire' in his sight. "Was that really necessary?"

Shinichi grinned at him, and it was all he could do to stay in character—that grin was roguishly mischievous, about three levels less than completely blinding and bright with challenge. "Of course! You realize that you're going the wrong way, right?"

He'd been heading up, not left with as many choices as he would have liked with the way about half the rescued Taskforce members had started combing floor-by-floor on Nakamori's jerky arm-waves (the beak may have been a bit much, but it was only costume cement. He'd even left the solvent in the man's pocket!) while the other half continued to release their fellows.

"I rather thought I was avoiding the majority of my pursuit?" he offered, because one never knew when there might be listeners.

A pair of handcuffs appeared like an offering almost as smoothly as he could pull off, though it hadn't involved sleight-of-hand.

He paused, trying to decide what Shinichi's angle was. Just keeping up the Kid-and-Detective theme or something else? Either way… "I adore you, Meitantei," he teased, "and I am quite grateful that you saved my life, but I'm not really into bondage."

The look he got for that said he was probably going to get scolded later, but he only grinned—and then Shinichi was snapping one of the cuffs around his wrist, expression flat and irritated.

His instincts collided.

On the one hand, _handcuffs._ On the other, _Shinichi_.

Shinichi won, and he didn't immediately slip the cuff and bolt, though he definitely froze.

"You _do_ have some common sense under all that white," Shinichi muttered, wrestling him around gently to cuff his other wrist—in front, as opposed to back and Kid wasn't quite sure why. He didn't _really_ think he was going to get arrested or otherwise exposed, but he was definitely wondering what Shinichi was up to.

Shinichi's police-issue radio fell to the floor, suddenly crackling out static loudly enough to make Kid blink as Shinichi winced, and then Shinichi was speaking, voice low and lips still. "The only good sniper's setup is the building to the west—if you're forced to the roof exit, head east and get to ground somewhere that doesn't have line-of-sight. It'd be safer to head down instead of up—there's the dumbwaiter* this place has instead of a laundry chute, and I'll provide a distraction. So—try to go down if you can."

Ah. Warning with white-noise coverage. That explained the cuffing, and the way Shinichi's fingers were still curled firmly around both of his wrists was what he'd expect from someone who had enough common sense to keep him from being able to break free. Which meant he needed a believable way to get Shinichi to loosen his grip, on the off-chance that there _were_ watchers. So. "Meitantei, you're hurting me."

Shinichi would know he wasn't, but there was obvious evidence of his 'supernatural strength' and he was kind enough to be afraid of injuring someone by accident. (He wasn't actually causing pain, but it was a good cover.)

Shinichi immediately eased his grip, and Kid took advantage, leaving Shinichi holding empty handcuffs and growling in a cloud of smoke. There was a brief moment where Shinichi's hands brushed against his suit's jacket, and then Kid slipped out of the cloud and _away_.

Down it was.

 _xxxx_

Once Kid was clear, Shinichi took a moment to examine what he'd grabbed as he'd tagged Kid with a tracker. Two flash bombs and a smoke grenade. The loud kind of flash bombs, too, which wasn't going to be much fun but would serve his purpose quite well.

(He was glad he'd been paying attention to what Kaito had stored where on that 'shoot me' suit of his, or he might have come up with sleeping gas bombs or something completely useless like a deck of cards. As it was, Shinichi had what he'd needed and Kid was doing exactly as Shinichi had recommended. He only had a few minutes to hit the ground and provide the promised distraction before Kid would be escaping the building.)

Ninety seconds later, Shinichi hit the lobby floor at a dead run, startling the few Taskforce members scoping the area. He ignored the alarmed calls, darting out through the already open doors and keeping a careful eye on the moving dot on the grid of his glasses. Right lens, not left, and it was a three-dimensional grid of the nearby area, showing Kid getting very close to the back doorway.

Shinichi triggered his own hastily set-up trick just as Kid's dot hesitated at the door, no doubt opening it. A double flash and echoing crack-thud like an explosion, quickly followed by a cloud of dark gray smoke ( _thank you, practicality!_ ) and Kid's dot was moving again, quick and steady.

No hesitation, just a flitting kind of here-to-there smoothness and Shinichi breathed out as the dot started circling around towards where Kaito was supposed to be waiting.

Safe, then. And—there, sniper scopes, and Shinichi continued moving himself, shutting off the right lens and turning on the left. Knowing where Kaito was skulking was generally a plus, and he had a sniper to track down.

 _xxxx_

" _Nakamori-keibu! Kudo-san just ran out the front door, and there was some kind of explosion!_ "

Nakamori cursed ten different ways in his head and finished yanking the beak off his face, glad of the solvent he'd found in his pocket but not taking the time to be careful. "What!?" he demanded of his radio.

Kid's would-be assassins again or something else?

" _I don't know, sir! It wasn't in my line of sight. Should I check it out?_ "

"Bring backup with you," Nakamori ordered. He didn't like the idea, but he didn't like the idea of telling Kaito that Kudo had gotten killed, either. According to legends, there _were_ ways, and fire was distinctively one of them. Also, they were police. While it wasn't exactly their division, it _was_ their responsibility to handle it if they were there before Division One.

He needed to call Megure. Bad enough that he wasn't allowed to check the adjacent buildings, but worse that there was _cause_ and he was still being stonewalled. Megure hadn't been expressly forbidden, though, and that could prove handy if they didn't flaunt that they'd found a loophole.

(The fact that he had no hard evidence notwithstanding, his Taskforce had all agreed to 'shots fired' even though they had also agreed that evidence towards Kudo having been hit—which included cleaning up the mess—couldn't be left alone. They weren't following the letter of the law, there, but the spirit of it was to protect, and who knew what could be done with Kudo's blood?)

Nakamori cursed under his breath, trying to come up with a plan while he had no information. It was one thing to do that with Kid—Kid never hurt anybody, and damn well did his best to make sure no one _else_ did, either—and entirely another to do it with an unknown while Kid had people sniping at him from adjacent buildings while Nakamori was forbidden from checking those buildings out.

He was going to have to wait.

He _hated_ waiting.

 _xxxx_

The cracking bang had Kaito cringing, but he recognized the sound and checked his pockets, calming with a wry grin. Shinichi had promised a distraction, but he never had said whose equipment he'd be using. Of course the detective didn't keep loud, flashy things on hand. (Kaito was going to have to remedy that.)

When he slipped out of the building, he spotted what might have been a person in a window several stories up in the building next door, but as no one shot at him and it didn't appear to be moving, it could have been something else.

He kept to the shadows anyway, wary and alert.

Five minutes later, he was far enough away that he didn't have much trouble skirting back around to the closest place he'd been granted permission for his civilian self to be.

Just to be safe, though, he went another few blocks to the subway station and made himself exit it like a normal person before bouncing his way to where he was supposed to meet up with Shinichi after the heist.

Shinichi wasn't there, but he'd expected that. The police would be holding him up for a while, yet, and he'd join the lot of them back at the station to drop off Shinichi's borrowed riot gear. Still, he'd call in a few more minutes.

Just to make sure. Actually, he should probably call Nakamori instead of Shinichi—there was a good chance that Shinichi had silenced his phone, and on the off chance that his detective really _was_ investigating the building next door, he shouldn't be risking drawing attention to said detective with a phone.

Kaito sighed, dropping into a booth seat at the late-night café they'd chosen as a meeting place and ordering a hot chocolate when a waiter came by to ask.

He didn't know how long he'd be waiting, so he hauled out a workbook—specifically, the thinnest, most flexible one he had for any of his classroom classes—and started paging through it. Just because he didn't take long to do his homework didn't mean he could skip it entirely, heist or no.

 _xxxx_

 _*Dumbwaiters are a kind of miniature elevator for transporting smaller items than freight elevators, and not designed for people._


	33. Caring

_Dad's heart surgery went well. His platelets are a bit down, so they're keeping him under observation an extra day, but nothing seems to be an actual problem. So, yay!_

 ** _(33)  
Caring_**

Shinichi slipped into the building quietly as soon as he found an entry-point, a door in a side-alley with a lock that bore signs of a recent and sloppy pick-session. Kid wouldn't have left the scratches—if it came to it, _Shinichi_ wouldn't have left such obvious marks.

That it hadn't been locked behind the picker (certainty of outside party, and while 'Snake' and 'Snake-lackey' were likely, someone else couldn't be ruled out without visual or audio confirmation) was either even more sloppy or planning a hasty retreat.

Underestimating an opponent could be deadly, but an ironic truth was that _overestimating_ an opponent could be equally so. Shinichi didn't know what the answer was, so would have to proceed with an open, if cautious, mind.

Quietly, Shinichi made his way upwards through the building and ended up having to flatten himself back into the space between two vending machines as a quick-moving set of footsteps descended from a higher flight of stairs.

There was no way that Snake hadn't heard the rumors, if there was still someone high enough in the police to stonewall Nakamori. But Snake wasn't the one into the legends—he'd been after _Kid,_ not Pandora. His boss was the one after Pandora, but Snake himself only wanted Kid dead. From what Shinichi had seen, he wasn't superstitious.

At all.

If his former patterns held true, Snake had heard and dismissed the rumors the same way he dismissed Pandora's existence, probably attributing Shinichi's survival to body armor or luck.

If he got shot at close range and _didn't_ immediately die (Shinichi doubted he'd survive a heart-shot, and had no illusions on surviving a bullet to the head), Snake would stop dismissing the rumors.

And would probably start taking Pandora seriously, too.

The simplest solution was to not get noticed, which would neatly avoid the entire problem, at least for the time being. The semi-simple solution was to not get hurt. He preferred the first, but he'd settle for the second—or even just _surviving,_ if it came to it, but if it were Snake…

Well, he was weird. Sometimes he was aware of _everything,_ and sometimes (more often) he was a pretty pathetic example of an assassin. All he needed was _proof—_ and, yes, Snake, thankfully in one of his oblivious moods, snarling quietly to himself.

Shinichi turned his phone to 'record', grimacing at the content of the curse-filled griping. It was like Nakamori gone murderous, really, with 'catch' replaced by 'murder horribly' and interspersed with the sort of language the Inspector used in Division Two's bullpen instead of the news-camera's sights.

Shinichi crept after him, evaluating how well-armed the assassin was. 'Not as well as usual' meant Snake and his crew _were_ suffering from the overhead's disruption, which was something _,_ even if Snake had always been better with handguns and close-range.

Shinichi nodded to himself, satisfied at the evidence. An audio recording of Snake grumbling to himself might not be enough for conviction in court if he were caught, but it _was_ enough to at least make it possible to get the restrictions on checking surrounding buildings lifted. If enough questions were asked, whoever was causing Nakamori's current troubles would either have to give in or get caught.

And Shinichi would be able to find out who it was more easily either way.

Also, no one had been hurt this time, so Shinichi was willing to keep things that way by letting Snake go, more-or-less. If the opportunity presented itself, he'd tag the man with a tracker, but he wasn't going to risk getting caught over it.

 _xxxx_

Kimura Daisuke crept along the side of the building to the west, his backup (Yamakawa Hito, affectionately dubbed 'Frank' for reasons unknown to Daisuke) scouted the front. He was approximately a third of the way towards the next corner when a door opened in his face and a man rushed out.

He reached for his gun, but the black-clad man was faster, a handgun in Daisuke's face before he could react past a startled yelp.

Another second, two—the mustached man smirked and his finger shifted towards the trigger—and then he was down, smacked away by a snarling Kudo with enough force that Daisuke heard bone crack.

The man's gun clattered to the ground behind Daisuke, who could only stare. He'd not seen Kudo up-close in months, and seeing him like this—fangs ( _fangs!_ ) bared, growling, hands curled into half-claws and the bands around his wrists sparking faintly—was terrifying.

And… weirdly not, at the same time. Kudo was looking like some kind of wild animal mother after her cub had been threatened, and Daisuke had the distinct impression that _he_ was the cub.

The man on the ground stared for half a second before snarling himself, though his was significantly less feral and quite a bit less frightening than the sound escaping Kudo. "You!"

Kudo's growl eased to a vicious smirk, "Snake," he returned.

A second gun, out and firing, six sharp cracks in rapid succession—and Kudo was moving straight through the shots, a restrained movement knocking the man out entirely.

There was blood on Kudo's lips.

Daisuke had a moment to panic, _sure_ Kudo was going to drop any second—and Kudo straightened with only a mild wince, licking away the blood as Frank came around the corner at a dead run, rubbing at his chest absently as he pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

An instant later, he grimaced and dropped them, hands instead going carefully to the thick silver bands around his wrists. There was a sort of shimmer and the strange, jagged symbols etched into them settled into a dull blue. Kudo sighed, looking grumpily at the discarded metal. "I broke my handcuffs," he shook his head, "Kimura-san, can you cuff this guy?"

Mechanically, he nodded, pulling out his own pair and bending down to roll the man over and restrain his hands. A quick glance showed that Kudo's pair of handcuffs was indeed bent, clearly unable to close, and he was fairly sure the dents were finger-sized.

Kudo sighed, crouching to search the man quickly, coming up with a third gun, two knives, and two separate bottles with unidentified pills inside. "Well. I wasn't expecting to be able to get him tonight, but…" he shrugged, "One more down, I guess. This guy's Snake, the head of the Black division set on assassinating Kid."

Daisuke cleared his throat, eying Kudo and only faintly aware of Frank reporting what he knew to Nakamori-keibu over the radio. "Are… you all right, Kudo-san?"

Kudo blinked at him, then nodded, quirking a wry half-smile. "You weren't part of the last heist, were you?"

Daisuke shook his head. He'd heard stories, but he'd kind of thought (or maybe _hoped_ ) they'd been exaggerated. Now he was pretty sure they weren't.

"I'm wearing body armor today. A couple cracked ribs, maybe, but nothing serious. I'll need to head home and get something to eat, but I'll be fine."

He nodded slightly, assured because Kudo was well-known for his adherence to truth. The formerly nervewracking rumors were suddenly weirdly reassuring. Kudo might be a… well, _vampire,_ but he was apparently just as protective as ever. A mama bear, as it were, although he wasn't sure a bear would be kind enough to let whoever threatened her cubs live.

And calling him that to his face might be a bad idea.

But it was still a relief, that Kudo was still Kudo. He may not know the young man well, but he knew him well enough to know he'd always been a blessing to the 'force as a whole and Division One in particular. (Also, he was pretty fun to have at a heist, but saying that out loud might make Nakamori-keibu blow a gasket.)

 _xxxx_

Shinichi considered the sharp but diminishing ache in his chest and dismissed it as irrelevant, keeping a wary eye on the man who wanted Kid dead and turning over the weapons. A cursory examination of the drugs had him think 'poison', and the opening of one was cyanide from the smell— _bad,_ to smell it so strongly, and for a moment everything spun—and the other… the other was five horribly familiar pills. He had been tempted to hide them, keep them from the police—but if he'd been a freak miracle and Haibara had been a gift from the gods, the possibilities of Haibara and Shinichi himself were things no amount of testing would reveal. Not unless they were working _backwards,_ as Haibara had been for the antidote.

He handed all five weapons over to Yamakawa after gathering up the final gun, added a warning on the two poisons, and settled back into keeping a close eye on the still-unconscious Snake.

Hitting him with the watch directly after hitting him in the head was probably close to overkill, but the watch would last half an hour and the blow to the head had been pulled carefully enough to probably only last minutes at best. He didn't want to _kill_ the man, after all.

Just lock him away for the rest of his life.

(Snake had been trying to kill _Kaito,_ had taken Kaito's dad from him—from them both, really, because Shinichi's memories of Kuroba Toichi were few and scattered, but he remembered a kindness that he'd rarely seen elsewhere. Shinichi _did_ want justice for that, wanted Snake's crimes to be listed publicly and Snake condemned for it by law… but he didn't want to kill him. That was one thing that could never be taken back.

But to let him walk free… this was good _,_ that Snake was caught. Kaito would be so much _safer_ for it.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito was starting to get a little nervous. Wrapping up usually took a while, but not _that_ long… but calling Shinichi could be a bad idea, if he was on someone's tail. Nakamori-keibu would be a safer person to call.

With that thought, Kaito's phone came out and he dialed.

" _Nakamori,_ " barked a familiar voice absently, meaning the man hadn't even glanced at his phone's screen.

"Nakamori-keibu?" Kaito was getting _really_ worried, because that wasn't Nakamori's usual post-heist frustration.

A slight pause, then a mildly embarrassed cough. " _Kaito. Kudo says he's staying here for a while longer—Kimura-keiji managed to startle someone Kudo called 'Snake' while he was coming out of the building to the west and the bastard almost shot him. Kudo intervened and Snake's unconscious and in custody, but_ Kudo _got shot six times. From what he says, the armor took most of it, but there was something about cracked ribs—if you could get him to go home and rest, I think_ everyone _would be grateful._ "

Kaito was vaguely aware of a ringing in his ears, of his phone sliding slightly in lax fingers before he managed to tighten them, of the waiter from earlier coming over and asking if he was all right, and then of Nakamori's voice in his ear again, demanding.

The only things he could think were 'Snake in custody' and 'shot six times'. The rest was in his awareness enough to keep him from panicking, but… Snake. Snake, and _Shinichi_ had caught him.

He cleared his throat as Nakamori's voice came sharper, "Shinichi's okay?"

A breath that sounded like relief from the other end of the line, " _Aa, he's cranky and showing more fang than I'm entirely comfortable with, and he's moving a bit carefully, but he's not bleeding as far as I can tell. Not that he's let anyone get a close look._ "

So. Possible on internal, but considering the healing factor, unlikely. "Are you still at the site?"

At the confirmation, Kaito started packing, nodding to the waiter with polite but hasty request. "I'm on my way," he informed through the phone. "I'm about six blocks down at a café; I won't be long."

He had a thermos, and the waiter was happy enough to fill it with warm water for him. Quick thanks and a hefty tip later, and Kaito was moving, out the door and mixing up SynthBlood to feed his wayward, reckless, _amazing_ detective before he started getting _really_ cranky.

They had _Snake._

There was a giddy thrill rising in his chest, tempered only by the knowledge that Shinichi could well be hurt worse than he was letting on. Once he was sure Shinichi was safe, that they _both_ were safe and home… then he would let himself be relieved. Be _happy._ For now—until he knew Shinichi was _really_ all right—he would be on full alert.

 _xxxx_


	34. Check

**_._**

 ** _(34)  
Check_**

"Shinichi!" Kaito felt a wash of relief on seeing his detective with his own two eyes, upright and not seeming in any real distress, though he was tense and visibly irritated. (Kaito had a vague sense of gratification that Shinichi had taken to his teachings so well, because 'irritated' now tended to involve his left fang getting ever so slightly bared at times, in the same manner that a wolf might bare a single tooth.)

Shinichi blinked, "Kaito," he greeted, relaxing subtly on hearing his voice.

Kaito moved closer, ignoring the semi-incredulous looks he was getting from wary taskforce members who were giving Shinichi a fair amount of space, though Kimura wasn't. He seemed a little concerned, but not the same kind of wary as the rest of them, so Kaito had to wonder what Shinichi had done.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kaito asked, looking his detective over more carefully.

"Nothing serious," Shinichi assured. "Just… a little hungry."

"Nakamori-keibu mentioned cracked ribs?" Kaito half-asked, offering the thermos sans-lid.

Shinichi nodded, "It wasn't a very good gun—he hadn't taken care of it properly, at least. It was close to point-blank, but the armor caught most of it. Still, that close? I'm lucky I got away with cracks," he accepted the thermos and took a deep draw, closing his eyes for a moment as some of his visible tension eased away.

Kaito frowned, but let it pass for the time being. Shinichi was all right, and doing a very good job of reinforcing the rumors.

"Broke my handcuffs, though." Shinichi added, scowling as he lowered the thermos. "I wasn't being careful."

Kaito blinked and snickered. "Oh, you poor thing! Just be glad it was only the 'cuffs."

Shinichi sighed, "I think I blew straight through the Seals. We might need to get them checked. They're holding for now, but…"

Something wrong with them? "Right," Kaito frowned, "How urgent, do you think?"

"It can wait until tomorrow. I just need to keep an eye on them—and not get angry."

So, 'yes' on the something wrong and that meant he was hesitant to use them. Also, the silver bands were being given some considering looks by surrounding officers, and Shinichi seemed to have forgotten about the thermos in his hands.

"Shinichi, _finish_ that," Kaito rolled his eyes, "You should have had one by now even without cracked ribs."

Shinichi tipped his head in an acknowledging manner and went back to drinking.

And Kaito was starting to feel giddy with relief and something that felt a lot like triumph. Shinichi was fine, and Snake was _caught._ If he hadn't had no reasonable explanation for throwing some kind of mini-celebration right there, he would have done it. But—he could wait a little longer.

And see about getting Shin-shin's friend's mom to be the lawyer for their side. Just to be safe.

 _xxxx_

Nakamori Ginzo wasn't the only one extremely relieved when Kaito showed up, handed Kudo what looked like a mug of blood but Nakamori was fairly sure was the synthetic that Division One had spread knowledge of, and then herded said vampire detective off towards the nearest train station.

Because even if Nakamori was fairly sure Kudo was as stable as a vampire possibly could be, having him around looking that irritated was a little hard on the nerves. The fangs didn't help, and neither did the broken handcuffs with _finger indents_ in them.

Naturally, they all eavesdropped shamelessly when Kaito had gotten Kudo talking, and the mention of seals—that was interesting. The mention of blowing through said seals and getting angry… "Kimura! Report!"

He knew the basics. The assailant; 'Snake', had almost shot Kimura and Kudo had intervened and gotten shot himself (thankfully in the now-ruined body armor); but he didn't know specifics.

"Hai! I was headed along the south side of the building to the west when a door opened less than five feet from me. The man, 'Snake', seemed surprised to see me and immediately pulled a gun. One second he was moving to pull the trigger and the next Kudo had batted him across the alley—I'm pretty sure I heard something crack."

Nakamori nodded slightly. That wasn't surprising, considering, "The prison doctor's going to have a look at him," he said grudgingly. They couldn't ignore an injury, even on scum like that.

Kimura nodded back, "I've never seen—Kudo was _furious._ I'm pretty sure those silver bands he wears now were sparking _,_ and he was—he was _growling._ It would have been terrifying, except… his entire focus was on Snake. When the guy pulled another gun and started shooting, Kudo just went straight through it and knocked him out. He was… _restrained_ , even then. It was obvious that he was holding back. I don't know where he came from, though—I didn't even see him arrive. Everything just happened so _fast._ "

Well. That was… interesting. Kudo managing to be restrained even while furious wasn't too surprising—the kid had always had a terrifying sort of control—but the appearing out of nowhere and feral behavior was new. So were the sparking wristbands and handcuff-crushing grip.

And the mentioned 'seals' were probably the wristbands.

Nakamori waved the man off, settling in to consider the new information, and vaguely heard some of his Taskforce converging on their fellow, questions tumbling out.

Nakamori paid only half an ear's worth of attention to the eager gossip-seeking, instead matching Kimura's hasty report to Kaito's interactions with Kudo and Kudo's own words before finally deciding that the police really couldn't ask for a better ally and that Kaito was probably the safest person in Tokyo whenever he was with Kudo.

That made him feel much better about the whole 'vampire boyfriend' thing.

 _xxxx_

Shinichi couldn't help but grin as Kaito herded him into the Hakase's house, seeing elation warring with concern and unable to keep from feeling ridiculously pleased that Kaito was happy.

Of course, then he ended up having to hand the Seals over to Agasa and Kaito presented _him_ to Haibara, but Kaito's hovering was managing to be more endearing than annoying. Instead of protesting, he just went along with Haibara's prodding—at least up until she gave a considering frown.

"What?" Kaito straightened, the undercurrent of giddy restraint vanishing in sharp worry.

"Hm?" Haibara cast him a disinterested look, clearly only alarming Kaito more.

Shinichi groaned. "Haibara…"

"Oh, nothing that should be concerning," she assured, waving carelessly. "Just something I'd like to run a test or two on. Kudo-kun, I'm going to need a bone sample."

Shinichi grimaced. He _hated_ those. She had the equipment to do it, of course, it _was_ Haibara—but having a bone biopsy taken was generally unpleasant, and would be worse than those he'd had before since he apparently now burned out numbing agents too fast for them to be of practical use.

Still. If Haibara was wanting a bone sample, it was probably best to let her have it. He knew better than to mess around with _whatever the hell his body was doing._ "Right," he sighed, trailing after her as she made her way to the lab, Kaito hovering at his heels.

"Relax, Kaito," he nudged reassuringly at his boyfriend's shoulder. "She doesn't sound too concerned, so we don't need to be."

"We're staying until she does whatever it is she's doing," Kaito informed him.

Shinichi shook his head, a wry chuckle escaping him. "Such a worrier."

"You induce worry," Kaito huffed at him. "You get yourself into _so much_ trouble. I have the _right_ to worry."

"He's not wrong," Haibara called back at them.

Shinichi tilted his head, thinking. "Kaito, did we ever tell Haibara and the Hakase?" They hadn't told the kids, not because of the whole 'guys' thing but because of the whole 'park plus hyperactive third-graders' thing, and they'd been preoccupied with the vampire bit anyway.

Kaito paused briefly, then hummed. "You know, I don't think so. We probably should, though."

"'Probably'?" Shinichi raised an eyebrow, "If she finds out through someone else, we're going to pay for it for _months._ "

Haibara turned around at the bottom of the stairs, folding her arms and tapping a foot. "Tell me _what,_ exactly, Kudo-kun?"

Shinichi coughed once, fighting a blush. "Kaito asked me out. I said yes."

She eyed them both flatly for all of three seconds before smirking _._ "Oh, good. Too bad I didn't try to start a betting pool."

Oh, gods _._ She'd seen it coming and perhaps involved herself in setting up certain circumstances—oh, who was he kidding? Of _course_ she'd orchestrated some of the circumstances; she was the one sending Kaito after him with newly created and/or adapted formulas. She was never going to let him live this down.

"Now come along. I want my samples."

Shinichi sighed and let her herd him into a chair.

 _xxxx_

Haibara kicked Kudo's beau out of the lab when his anxious hovering grew to be a little too obstructive, pragmatically taking the samples she needed as quickly and efficiently as she could.

Biopsies were never pleasant to give, and bone worse than most, but she needed to be sure this was what she hoped and not something new that had to be watched. Tibia, femur, radius, humerus, and two ribs on each side—a long and taxing set of twelve samples, but she _had_ to be sure. Bones were important, and he had enough trouble without complications in producing blood, which would start happening if there was anything wrong with his marrow.

Samples taken, she shooed Kudo after Kuroba with firm instructions on getting more of the SynthBlood and taking the calcium supplements she passed to him before settling in to make and examine slides.

Four hours later, she was satisfied. The strangeness of mildly cracked instead of shattered ribs had an explanation, and all she would need to do about it was add a new supplement. Not to the SynthBlood, though, that wouldn't mix in properly.

He would need more calcium than normal, at least for a while, and he would also need to practice daily with his Seals. Now that she thought about it, it was a miracle he hadn't shattered his bones when he'd first gotten those Power Shoes Agasa had made for Conan—but vibration, especially impact vibration, did cause bones to increase their density. After enough use, it was no wonder that his leg bones were heavier and more dense than his arms, but his arms had denser structure than his ribs.

Which… could end up being a problem. She'd have to get the Hakase to make something like the machine that had been designed for astronaut use—essentially a vibrating platform that would keep their bone density from dropping during long-term space missions. Gravity in and of itself would do that, but the vibration had gotten the sheep used in the experiments to have denser, stronger bones on Earth. There was no reason it wouldn't do the same for Kudo, and it would act more uniformly across his entire body, instead of making his arms and legs stronger, but not his spine, pelvis, and ribs. And head, she supposed.

It would do him no good to have an impact divert across a stronger bone to a weaker one. Shattered clavicle or scapula from a hit to the forearm would likely get messy, and she didn't even want to think of what a shattered pelvis would look like with his healing factor. He'd probably never walk again.

She blinked on reaching the top of the stairs, spotting Kudo dozing against Kuroba's shoulder and Kuroba watching her with wide, worried eyes.

Haibara snorted, smirking in amusement. Kudo had _Kaitou KID_ quite wrapped around his little finger, it seemed. "He's fine, Kid-san," she grinned at him, and he switched from worried to wary.

Her grin softened a little as she acknowledged how much he cared about Kudo. "I'm going to add a calcium supplement and a physical therapy regimen involving his Seals as well as a certain amount of time on a device that should cause his core bones to strengthen more uniformly, but there's nothing life-threatening going on."

The way he _visibly_ relaxed was both hilarious and adorable, and it showed that he trusted her rather more than she'd expected him to. Kuroba had Kid's self-control whenever he felt he needed it, and that generally seemed to involve not showing weakness.

That he _was_ showing weakness was a bit… _flattering,_ really. He _trusted_ her.

Aside from the Hakase, the children (who didn't know any better), and Kudo… it had been a long, long time since she'd been trusted. Or, in many ways, trust _worthy._

This was the new beginning she'd wanted for so long. This was—Kudo was her family, now, him and the Hakase. It looked like that was starting to include Kuroba, too.

She'd _missed_ having a family.

(Getting one again was a blessing she didn't deserve.)

 _xxxx_


	35. Balance

_Hello, all! Things are settling back into something like a routine. I'm having more trouble with my headaches, but-well, not unexpected, considering how stressful things have been. That aside, though, Dad's less discouraged and Mom's very good at keeping him entertained whenever possible. I can only pull a visit once a week, for two days at a time, what with Blackhawk (the horse) and Patience (the pony) at home. Uial (service dog) naturally comes with me, and poor little Hotei (pet rabbit) doesn't particularly like traveling, so I have the neighbor-kids check up on him with the other two while I'm gone. Longer than that is unfeasible, especially now that school's started and the kids have a ways to go to get to my place from theirs. Fortunately for me, they've taken a great liking to Patience since she joined the pasture, probably because she only comes up a bit past Blackhawk's knee, being part Shetland, seeing as how he's half-draft._

 _On that note: Have a chapter!_

 _ **(35)**_  
 _ **Balance**_

"Ugh," Shinichi informed quite eloquently as Haibara explained her plans for his new training sessions. (Kaito had offered 'training' instead of 'physical therapy', and Haibara had conceded that was a better term to use in case of being overheard.)

She shrugged offhandedly and passed him a bottle of calcium tablets. "Two a day," she instructed. "I'll call you as soon as the Hakase has the machine finished. With the amount of stress you've been putting some of your bones under, I really should have thought of this sooner."

Shinichi sighed but didn't protest, popping the lid off the bottle to tip two of the tablets into a palm before re-capping it and tossing the tablets into his mouth. He chewed with only a mild grimace and nodded thanks when Kaito offered him a mug of SynthBlood with a cheeky grin.

"Thanks, Haibara," he decided aloud.

She waved them both off, "You're set for now. Get out of my lab."

Kaito snickered, offering her a bright smile and another "Thanks!", his much more cheery than his boyfriend's.

She nodded at him, cordial in a way she hadn't been towards Shinichi. "You are quite welcome. Do keep him out of trouble, Kuroba-kun."

"No promises," Kaito nodded back, "but I'll do my best."

Haibara eyed him for a moment before accepting the words with a, "Yes, you do. I suppose I can't ask for miracles."

Kaito smiled slightly, a soft affection warming his chest. This one—she looked after Shinichi so well, and now she was trusting him to, too. "Maybe not, Science-san, but I can try all the same."

Shinichi huffed softly, somewhere between fondly amused and offended. "I don't get into those sorts of situations on _purpose,_ " he complained.

Haibara humphed, "Which is exactly why it would take a miracle to keep you out of trouble. If you _were_ doing it on purpose, all we'd need is a good enough leash."

Shinichi made a sound rather like a squashed parrot in his indignation, and Kaito couldn't help but laugh. This— _this_ was what he'd been looking for since that day on a blackened stage. Shinichi was _home_ , and this was family _._

 _xxxx_

Three days later, Kaito's high from Snake's capture had finally worn down to something closer to his usual cheer, much to Shinichi's parents' and Kaito's friends' relief.

Shinichi, on the other hand, found himself mildly disappointed. Watching others get caught in Kaito's hyperactive tricks had been amusing, and watching Kaito only manage glee when Shinichi dodged those aimed at him had been almost as fun. Seeing Kaito grin like a proud papa while covered in his own glitter mix the one time Shinichi had seen the prank coming early enough to not only dodge but turn it around (in front of _Hakuba_ , at that) had made a curl of warmth settle in his chest.

He wasn't quite mean enough to mention the disappointment out loud. Kaito would undoubtedly go back to excessive pranking just to please him, and Shinichi was obviously the only one who genuinely enjoyed the challenge of being a target that often. His father seemed to have fun with it in moderation, and Kaito's friends took the frequency of his pranks as a mood-gauge and worried when they actively lessened, but for the most part, Kaito's antics were enjoyed more by those not in the line of fire.

Those _in_ the line of fire usually just resigned themselves to the chaos and mess.

(Shinichi was more than a little despairing of Hakuba's inability to avoid most of Kaito's more colorful stunts—he was a decent enough detective that he really should have been able to see most of them coming. When he'd mentioned his mild despair to Kaito, Kaito told him he was special and shouldn't worry that no one else was.)

Kaito may have calmed, but he was still brightly optimistic in a way that spoke of a level of hope he hadn't truly held for a long time. Even if some of Shinichi's not-death-related challenge had tapered down, that was more than enough to keep him happy.

(The case that all but fell on his head as he made his way home after dropping off a bento for Kaito at his one actual in-school class day after a plaintive 'I forgot' call wasn't enough to truly damp his spirits, though it did make him wonder if Hattori was in town.)

Then Ran called shortly after the case was settled, because Hattori and Kazuha _were_ in town and wanted to set up a meeting. The word 'Sonoko' came up, and Shinichi was very tempted to say 'no' on principle, but... well, that wouldn't be fair to Ran _or_ Hattori.

He sighed, "When and where?"

After Ran gave the pertinent directions, Shinichi agreed to meet them and sent a text to Kaito, then informed Chiba he'd be by the station later for the paperwork. The fact that Chiba glanced up at the clear, bright sky before asking if he wanted a ride to the train station was somewhere between hilarious and heartening. He'd known the police had fully bought in to the 'Kudo Shinichi is a vampire' thing, and that a fair portion of Division One felt at least somewhat protective of him at times due to his similarities to his 'younger cousin', but that even Chiba was partially mothering him over things like _sunlight_ was... well it was a sign of mixed caring and trust.

(It made the half-truth rankle even as it made him smile fondly. He was just glad they hadn't had to outright lie on any of it.)

 _xxxx_

Suzuki Sonoko had never been particularly fond of Kudo Shinichi. She knew herself well enough to know why—it had started out as mild jealousy when they were children, because Ran had already known 'Shinichi' before she had become Ran's friend. The fact that Ran was closer to Shinichi than to her had been a sore point, and the fact that Shinichi tended to be annoyingly right about everything was enough to fuel her ire.

Oh, sure, she'd gotten to be friends with Shinichi-kun too, but they still bickered every time they were in range of each other—less like cats and dogs than a tom and an irascible queen.* She didn't hate him, though when she'd been sure he'd broken Ran's heart she'd been about ready to tear him in half.

Of course, finding out _why_ he'd mostly gone missing for so long and that he'd been literally taking his life into his hands every time he visited or even spoke to them had killed a lot of the anger. _Then_ she'd realized that his presence had put _Ran_ in danger, too, and had gone straight back to wanting to rip him in half.

Ran had talked her down. It had taken a while, but she understood—if he hadn't kept Ran from looking for him, she would have ended up targeted and the fact that he'd been careful about how and when he'd called or visited—well, the only time Ran had been caught up in the fringes of whatever mess he'd been in, she'd stumbled in on her own and it was his intervention that drew attention back away from her and her family again.

She'd had to grudgingly forgive him for that. Still, she hadn't really spoken to him since he'd gotten back, and Ran seemed a little... hesitant, about inviting him to the get-together at the mall, which was really just an excuse to bully him into coming to one of her family villas with Ran, Ran's boyfriend, Makoto, and possibly Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan.

There would be no strangers or casual acquaintances invited. Not with _Kudo Shinichi_ there. His luck was at least as bad as Chibi-chan's, and she'd had quite enough of being locked in hard-to-reach places with psycho killers.

(If it was also intended to be mild revenge for his long absence by putting him in a perpetual third-wheel situation by only inviting couples otherwise, she'd never admit it out loud. Although her response to Kazuha-chan's gleeful "Heiji _finally_ asked me out!" may or may not have involved her and Ran squealing in tandem.)

 _xxxx_

 _*Housecats_ _and lions are the only two types of feline_ _that naturally form social groups. The female leader of a group of housecats is called the 'queen', as are unfixed females in general. Has something to do with the attitude, I'd assume. Toms generally tend to be more temperamental_ _than fixed males, and if a queen doesn't like a tom, especially the 'leader' type, things can get a little messy, if not outright bald-spotted and bloodied. Fur does fly._


	36. Invitation

.

 ** _(36)_**  
 ** _Invitation_**

Ran wasn't quite sure about inviting Shinichi—not because she didn't want him there, but because Kazuha was just as freaked out by supernatural things as she usually was herself, and had none of Ran's history with Shinichi to offset the shock. Trying to act as a mediator... well, it _might_ work. Maybe.

Then again, the way Hattori was glancing between her and Kazuha probably meant he knew about Shinichi's 'condition'. Ran sighed, "It's fine, Hattori-kun. Shinichi—well, Takagi-keiji _—_ explained, and you should see him with the kids! It's so cute!"

"Kudo told ya?"

She nodded, "I may have freaked out at him, but Takagi-keiji was there and he and Sato-san talked me down. Oh, and have you met Kuroba-kun? He has a friend who looks just like me! It's _eerie!_ They're childhood friends, too!"

Hattori blinked at her, "Huh," he said after a few more moments. "Kudo's life is _weird._ "

Ran snickered and heard Sonoko snort, "That detective geek? He's _always_ been weird!"

Hattori made an acknowledging sound just in time for a very dry, "Thank you, I do try," to come from off to the side.

Ran wasn't the only one to jump. "Shinichi!" she complained, "Don't _do_ that!"

Shinichi offered a sheepish sort of smile, and Hattori stared for a second, "Uh, Kudo—yer teeth're... ah..."

Ran saw Kazuha freeze out of the corner of her vision, and Sonoko tilted her head to peer at Shinichi more intently.

He pressed his lips together, looking annoyed, but he clearly knew he wasn't going to be able to avoid talking forever and his fangs _were_ pretty noticeable at this point. "Thanks, Hattori," he sighed, and—yeah, those were the fangs.

Still, she'd last seen him well over a week ago, and they seemed the same size this time, unlike when she'd met him at the park a week-ish after she'd talked to him at the agency. "At least they aren't any longer," Ran offered in a weak attempt at comfort.

Shinichi snorted, ignoring everyone but Ran on what appeared to be sheer principle. "No, they've measured steady for a bit over a week. I think they're... uh, fully in."

Ran felt a little bad for him as he cast a wincing glance upwards, "Why don't we go inside?" she offered. "We'll at least be out of the sun."

He tipped his head and followed as she turned towards the door, Kazuha and Sonoko still kind of staring but Hattori snapping out of it.

"Ya okay, Kudo? Ya seem a li'l..." Hattori waved vaguely.

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "I'm _fine,_ Hattori. I came straight from a crime scene and I have paperwork to fill out at the station tonight, and I've got a headache and I _am_ a little hungry, but nothing serious."

Ran blinked, "Wow, Kuroba-kun's really training you to be honest about your health, isn't he?"

Sonoko snapped out of her daze, "Wait, wait!" she made a 'time out' symbol with her hands, "What's with the teeth?"

Shinichi growled, one his fangs glinting as the corner of his lip curled up before he quelled the expression, "Inside," he ordered. "I've been in the sun for hours and my head is killing me."

Ran giggled as Sonoko gaped, snagging Kazuha's arm to tug her along and leaning over to whisper, "Really, it's fine, Kazuha-chan. He's so careful it's adorable."

She shook herself and hissed straight back, "Ran-chan! Is he _really?_ "

"Vampire?" Ran offered quietly, "He seems to think so, and the police agree. Apparently he got shot through the right lung in front of police witnesses and _walked away_. He was fine the next morning."

Kazuha gaped at her, a faint squawking sound catching in her throat.

"That was my first reaction," Ran smiled sympathetically, "but he's so careful not to hurt anyone that it really _is_ cute. And Kuroba-kun seems to be training him to take better care of himself."

Kazuha's mouth worked for a few seconds and then she sort of deflated, "I'm going to be nervous around him _forever,"_ she mourned.

Ran patted her shoulder, "It's fine. He won't hold it against you, and neither will I."

Up ahead, she heard Hattori demanding to know if Shinichi had taken his 'meds', and when the answer was an irritated negative, the Osakan detective scowled and started rummaging through Shinichi's shoulder-bag while he was still wearing it, earning an indignant "Hey!" before coming up with a silver packet and a thermos.

"Will this dissolve wit' cold water?" Hattori asked, waving the packet in Shinichi's direction.

"No," Shinichi grumped.

Hattori nodded and jogged off towards a nearby tea-shop with both thermos and packet, much to Shinichi's visible exasperation. "Him and Kaito, _really,_ " he huffed.

Sonoko apparently couldn't keep quiet any longer, "Okay, what's with the teeth—and the growling _,_ what's with the _growling?_ "

Shinichi bared said teeth at her with another growl, this one sounding more frustrated than annoyed. "I," he stated distinctly, "want it on record that I did _not_ ask for this."

"Shinichi's a vampire," Ran added helpfully.

Sonoko paused, blinked, and then pointed out, "Sun? Burning?"

Shinichi snorted, "And how many of the legends do you _really_ think are true?"

Sonoko considered that, "Huh," she nodded thoughtfully, "Good point. So... which ones are?"

That was actually a good question, Ran had to concede.

"Fangs," Shinichi stated dryly before deliberately nicking his lip on one and licking away the tiny drop of blood to show the puncture already closed. "Healing—the sun gives me a headache after a while. My hearing's a little better, but not much and certainly not enough to be called supernatural. I think that's the healing—any of the usual degradation being corrected. A few other things are weird, and I keep _growling_ at things—" the fact that he growled in frustration at _that_ made Ran snicker and he huffed, visibly reigning himself back in.

Right about then, Hattori came back, thermos in hand and packet missing. "Here," he offered. "It's not too hot," he added, "Jus' added cold after I got it dissolved. Yer li'l doc makes weird stuff."

Shinichi nodded and unscrewed the lid, immediately gulping down some of the liquid therein before lowering it to lick bloody red from his lips. If Ran didn't already know about everything, she'd be severely creeped out. "Blood," he added, almost as an afterthought. "Although this is synthetic."

Sonoko stared, "So, I was _going_ to bully you into joining me and Ran out at the villa near Otsu and invite Hattori-kun and Kazuha-chan as well, but now I'm not so sure."

Shinichi eyed her like she was nuts, "Has there _ever_ been a villa-escape vacation that you've organized that did _not_ have some mass murderer attend?"

"Which is why it was only going to be _us._ And Makoto and Honda-kun."

Shinichi tilted his head, "Yamato-san? I haven't actually met him."

"You'll probably like him," Ran assured, "He's a second cousin to an inspector in Nagano. Yamato Kansuke? Conan liked him when we were in Nagano's prefecture—Honda-kun isn't as harsh as Yamato-keibu, and he's got a good heart."

Shinichi hesitated, then sighed, "I suppose I wouldn't say 'no' outright, but..."

"You've been relying a lot on Kuroba-kun since this happened, haven't you?" Ran asked, suddenly a little concerned.

Shinichi nodded, "I know it's a little—but he had a witch in his high-school class, apparently, and he handles the whole thing like it's _normal._ It... helps."

"Witch?" Ran asked weakly, blinking.

Shinichi shrugged, a wry grin quirking his lips. "I'm hardly in a position to refute that, these days."

Kazuha made a whimpering sound, and Sonoko cackled outright. "Oh, oh, _Kudo Shinichi_ has been wrong about something for _years!_ "

Shinichi grimaced, " _Please_ , Sonoko, my life has rubbed that in my face enough without you joining in."

Sonoko cackled for another few moments before settling somewhat, grinning broadly. "So... who's this 'Kuroba-kun'?"

Shinichi scowled at her, and Hattori blurted out a somewhat clumsy rescue. "Kudo's god-brother, apparently."

Ran blinked, "Really?"

Shinichi nodded, "Kuroba Toichi was my godfather. Tou-san's Kaito's. We didn't see much of each other after his dad died, though, not until... well. The whole mess with the Organization—they killed his dad and made it look like a stage accident. He's helped keep me sane, the past few years."

"Wait— _Kuroba Kaito?_ " Sonoko demanded, bouncing to attention.

Ran twisted to blink at her, "You know him?"

"Yeah! Kaito-kun's my biggest rival for being KID-sama's number one fan!"

Shinichi snorted, "You win, Sonoko. You _definitely_ win, hands down."

Sonoko gaped, completely derailed from whatever rant she'd been about to go on, and Ran had to give Shinichi a curious look herself. Shinichi shrugged back at her.

"Fans tend to be unreasonably enthusiastic. I might call Kaito KID's biggest _supporter,_ but Kaito has good reason to support KID. Sonoko's just obsessed."

Ran choked on a snicker as Sonoko went from disbelieving to outraged.

Yup. Life was normal.

 _xxxx_

When Shinichi popped up outside his classroom as his last class got out that day, Kaito was a bit concerned. Shinichi didn't tend to spontaneously show up on campus, after all—his fan base may not have possessed the _enthusiasm_ that most of Kid's fans did, but it was just as widespread, and he wasn't particularly fond of dodging them.

And the fangs really did make for an awkward conversation with anyone not in the actual (or _believed_ ) 'know', as it were.

The fact that Shinichi looked like he was trying to decide whether or not 'amusement' was the appropriate response to whatever had brought him eased that concern a bit, but just to be on the safe side, Kaito asked as they started making their way down the hall.

The response wasn't what he'd expected.

"Sonoko's invited us to one of her family villas, the one out near Otsu, under the condition that neither you nor I is going to go on a mad killing spree. She's had bad luck with these things."

Kaito grinned, "Your luck, you mean?"

"That isn't funny," Shinichi scowled at him, seeming genuinely bothered.

Kaito immediately felt bad for teasing him on it, "Sorry," he apologized, scrambling for a way to cheer Shinichi back up.

Shinichi shook his head, "No, it's true. I've been there or Conan has, and… well, you know how that goes. She's only inviting people she's certain of, this time—her boyfriend, Ran and _her_ boyfriend, Hattori, Kazuha, and me. Ran talked her into letting me invite you, but since you've apparently already met, that wasn't too hard."

Kaito tilted his head thoughtfully, " _Suzuki_ Sonoko?" he asked, just to be sure.

Shinichi nodded, "I'd say no, but…"

"Ran and Hattori both want you to show."

"Kazuha, not so much," Shinichi grimaced.

"Ah… like Ran was, then?"

At the nod, Kaito offered a smile, slinging an arm around Shinichi's shoulders and tugging him sideways, bracing for the expected stumble. "She'll come around!" he declared, ruffling Shinichi's hair with his other hand.

Shinichi twisted free and tripped him, a quick grab guiding him to the floor safely but also keeping him from being able to catch himself.

Kaito pouted up at his boyfriend, "So mean."

Shinichi only raised an eyebrow and offered the same hand that had dropped him to help him back up.

Well, at least he was back to normal.

Kaito grinned and took the hand, bouncing back to his feet. "So, I can come? I won't be able to go _with_ you unless you're willing to let me skip my Wednesday class, but hand me an address and I'll meet you there!"

Shinichi rolled his eyes, "Come on, you lunatic. Let's get you to a park for your daily walk—you have too much energy."

Kaito laughed, "Way to make me sound like a pet, Shin-shin. _You're_ the one who needs looking after!"

But the antics were distracting nicely from the details, and no one had commented on Shinichi's presence or teeth. He was getting to be a bit of a magician in his own right, avoiding notice by attracting it.

Kaito was _so_ proud.

 _xxxx_


	37. Shimmer

_I live! Dad gets to go home soon-ish! Another couple weeks. So, yay!_

 _Also, warning for kissing. Just saying._

 ** _(37)  
Shimmer_**

Shinichi hadn't realized that he hadn't been without Kaito popping up _somewhere_ in his day since—well, getting shot at a heist. He also hadn't realized how much he'd come to rely on that cheerful, frequent presence.

It wasn't a dependency. He could, had, and would again get along without Kaito being there just fine. It just—seemed a little duller, without him. Kaito brightened everything, at least half the time _literally_ with his propensity for colorful dyes and glitter. Also, he let Shinichi indulge in his more competitive side without causing trauma to bystanders and his presence usually required a set of quick-timed reactions and fast thinking that Shinichi otherwise only had a chance to use when his life was in danger… and usually someone else had already died.

Heists didn't count. Kaito was at those, too.

He was noticing the lack keenly, probably all the more so from the fact that not only was he the only 'single' person in the villa, but that half of the others were more than a little uneasy with his presence.

His now quite habitual reactions (he wasn't sure whether to thank or curse Kaito and Haibara for that bit) of growling and/or showing his teeth when frustrated, angry, or otherwise not-sad upset were definitely not helping matters. Although making Hattori jump had been somewhat amusing, and getting Sonoko to curse at him had been downright hilarious.

Still, one night with the low-level stress of a hanging unease that he knew full well he was the cause of—he wanted Kaito _._ Which… was a point in favor of the relationship they were trying to build. Or, from the general feel of it, _succeeding_ in building.

Shinichi sighed and pulled out his phone. No one had bothered him yet, and it was nearing nine—Ran probably remembered the phone call where he'd answered with slurred words, which was again Haibara's doing but she'd thought he'd been sleeping and he hadn't corrected her.

Kaito wouldn't be there for another hour or so, depending on how the roads were—Shinichi had pre-paid the taxi, which Kaito would find out later and probably be huffy about, but Sonoko had covered everyone else like she usually did for these things and it didn't seem fair to make Kaito pay when he was coming for Shinichi.

He considered the blank open message, then shrugged to himself and typed in 'SAVE ME!' with a very ridiculous emoji of a frantic figure with waving arms. The situations he tended to be in when Kaito had _actually_ saved him made him think the silly figure was necessary, just to make it clear there was no true need of rescue.

Several seconds later, a message came back.

'pgtndjqdgts'

Shinichi blinked at the crunch of Latin letters, stared for about twelve seconds, and shook his head. Not too bad for something that had taken less than three seconds for Kaito to come up with, because typing the message had to take a few in and of itself, but simple enough that he didn't even have to write it out to crack.

A simple shift-cypher*, 't' equals 'e', add spaces and other grammar details—and he had 'Are you bored?' in English.

Respond in kind—same cypher and language, just to be snarky—and he promptly typed in 'I wish only. Everyone's being oppressively nervous,' as 'xlxhwdcantktgndcthqtxcvdeegthhxktanctgkdjh' and hit send. He _did_ wish he was only bored—and while he certainly was bored, he was also more than a little… well, _depressed,_ he supposed.

It wasn't that he was lying, really. He wasn't—nothing he'd said was untrue. But. _Deceiving…_ yes, that he was doing. He'd hoped he could have left most of that behind with Conan—and, damn it, he hadn't called Jodie-sensei in a while. She and James-san had gotten the truth, because he needed them to help set up a cover story for Conan's disappearance, but they didn't know about the newer things.

And Megure-keibu _did_ have Jodie's number. That could get awkward.

And it was easier to think on than how he was still having to perpetuate deceptions on who—and what—he was. The half-fear of half the group he was with (and sometimes Ran and Hattori startled, too) was… _tiring._ Not physically, but tiring all the same, and Kaito's unwavering support was something he could really use right now.

The next text seemed to have caught on to the more serious tint to Shinichi's mood, because Kaito didn't bother with any kind of code. 'You okay?'

Shinichi considered. 'Yes,' he decided before adding another text on that one's cybernetic heels, 'Not great, but I'm alright. It would have been easier just to refuse, but…' Hattori and Ran were his friends, and they wanted to spend time with him. Just because the invitation came from Sonoko was no reason to refuse—and Sonoko was a friend, too. Even if Shinichi wasn't ever going to tell her that to her face.

A slightly longer pause before a lighter text that Shinichi was pretty sure was only half-teasing. 'If I kiss you in front of everyone when I get there, are you going to hit me?'

Shinichi thought about that. Kaito's acclimation procedures _were_ working—the quick kisses sprung on him at random times no longer brought a stir of unease and the extra-clingy behavior and occasional from-behind hugs where Kaito would lean up against him cheek-to-cheek seemed to have settled the 'too close to my face' twitchiness.

Public display was… somewhat of an uncomfortable thought, but only the embarrassing kind of uncomfortable, and Ran was the only one who knew…

Amusement at the shock value alone might make it worth it.

'You can always try it and find out,' Shinichi sent back before closing his phone and getting up. Hopefully, there would be coffee. And he should eat some actual breakfast; he hadn't had much the night before and carbohydrates were still important.

 _xxxx_

 _Oh?_

Kaito eyed the last incoming text on his phone for a long moment, considering implications—the lovely, _interesting_ implications that all involved Shinichi being slightly further into this relationship than Kaito had thought.

Shinichi cared about him, he knew that. That was, in fact, a complete given—Shinichi cared about everyone _,_ including people who had caused him and his severe harm. He even, as terribly amazing as he was, actively cared about those who'd _killed_ people he counted friends.

Kaito also knew, however, that Shinichi cared about him more than he cared about most people. Even before they'd been properly introduced, Shinichi had proven that he didn't just _care_ about Kaito, he _trusted_ him. That was a distinct difference—Shinichi expected Kaito to be able to handle himself in many things and had faith that Kaito was a good person.

About ninety-nine-plus percent of the people Shinichi cared about (because he really did care about _everyone_ ), Shinichi _didn't_ trust. Shinichi was a detective, a homicide detective at that, and had been tripping over bodies since he was a toddler. Shinichi trusted the kids, Hattori, Haibara, Agasa, and Ran. Probably Sonoko, though Kaito hadn't seen them together and wasn't sure.

For him to have trusted Kid even before meeting _Kaito_ … well, it wasn't every day a detective trusted an international criminal, no matter what the criminal was known for. And yes, Shinichi-as-Conan had _loved_ to badmouth him, but he was reasonably sure that Conan had always been able to tell when he was listening and only did so to annoy him.

And Conan _had_ trusted him, no matter what he'd said, because he would never ask for help from someone he didn't in the kind of situations he had asked for help in. Not even with threats of blackmail—Shinichi knew full well that blackmail didn't generally end well. Shinichi would risk himself on a unstable deal, but never, _never_ anyone else.

So. Add all that together with more recent developments—Kaito was inclined to think Shinichi loved him. Maybe not the same _way_ that he loved Shinichi, but at least as much as he loved the kids, as much as he loved Haibara and Sonoko. Maybe not quite as much as Ran, but Ran was… Ran was Shinichi's Aoko, and Kaito loved Aoko with the same ferocity that he loved Shinichi, though not the passion. And since he'd spent far more time learning Shinichi than Shinichi had him—because Conan had been fascinating and those glimpses of Shinichi when he was too tired to maintain Conan had been beautifully heartbreaking. Even crime-scene-Conan hadn't been Shinichi, though he certainly had been terrifying.

It was only fair, that Shinichi take the time to learn him. You had to know someone to love them, after all. Well—to love the way Kaito loved, anyway. Shinichi had the unconditional caring type down just fine, and it blanketed the whole _world._ Shinichi would make a great dad.

Just because Kaito never wanted to hurt anyone didn't mean he wanted to save _everyone._ He wouldn't take a life—if he could, and someone was within his reach—yes, he'd save most of those he could. Snake… _Snake_ he wasn't sure.

If it had been Snake falling before his eyes, he didn't think he'd have been able to reach out to him, not like Shinichi had Gin. He didn't _hate_ Snake—hate was poison, and he hadn't let himself—but… he didn't have the desire to hurt anyone, but he didn't have the desire to _save_ Snake, either.

He shook his head, redirecting his thoughts away from the darker turn. Shinichi had caught Snake for him anyway—he probably wouldn't have to worry about him anymore. And Shinichi had given him de-facto permission to kiss him with an audience!

Which was unexpected, to say the least, but if Shinichi was bored _and_ unhappy, some kind of over-the-top distraction might be just the thing. Also, he wondered if Shinichi would allow a _proper_ kiss this time.

He nodded to himself. If Shinichi got upset about it later, there would be apologies and chocolate involved, but when Kaito got there, there would be _tongue._

 _xxxx_

"Kudo?" Heiji eyed his friend, who'd seemed a little off since he'd gotten up. Not _tired,_ exactly, but… worn, maybe? "Ya alrigh'?"

Kudo sighed, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just…" he waved a hand at the rest of the room, where Kazuha was talking with Neechan and Suzuki-han but occasionally glancing over towards them worriedly and the other two guys were discussing something martial-art related intently—and also keeping space from Kudo.

Neechan's interspersed half-apologetic, half-concerned glances made it click. They were nervous of Kudo, and he didn't like it—but he wasn't holding it against them, just… looking kinda down about it.

Distraction, distraction—oh, saved by the phone. Kudo's phone very obligingly provided a distraction by buzzing once, and Kudo pulled it out to glance at the screen, and then his shoulders eased a bit.

"Good news?" Heiji asked.

Kudo shrugged one shoulder, striding towards the front door. "Kaito's taxi's just leaving. He's at the other end of the path," and Kudo put on his shoes and stepped out into the sun, wincing with a grimace but moving quickly towards the tree-shaded path.

"Kudo!" Heiji called, scrambling to put his own shoes on. He knew that sunlight wasn't deadly to the guy, but still.

"Hattori, what is it?" Neechan called from the other room, and Heiji huffed.

"Kuroba's almos' here and Kudo's gone ou' ta meet him. He ain't got coverage, though."

The sound from Neechan was interestingly like an angry cat, before a drawn-out "Shinichiiiii…" and annoyed footsteps followed.

 _Annoyed_ footsteps. Neechan managed to impart emotion into the sound of _walking._

"Wait, Ran-chan!"

"Ran!"

And then more footsteps. Heiji shrugged and resigned himself to waiting a moment, and then all the other five showed up and started stepping into shoes.

"C'mon! He's gettin' ahead of us!" Heiji started jogging, and Neechan kept pace easily while Kazuha and Suzuki-han grumbled but did the same, the other two boys following without comment. Worried?

Heiji rounded a corner just in time to hear Kudo call "Kaito!" in a relieved manner, then halted entirely on seeing Kudo's expression.

He looked— _happy._

"Shin-shin!" the response drew his eyes further up the trail, to where Kuroba was dropping a duffle beside himself carelessly and bounding towards Kudo in obvious delight.

That was—that meant something, but Heiji was having trouble wrapping his mind around it, and the way Kudo's fangs (Heiji was still having trouble with the fangs) caught the light was a little distracting in how _not normal_ it was.

And then Kuroba tackled Kudo back against the nearest tree, kissing him full-on as Kudo's arms came up in an instinctive catch of an embrace.

Heiji's mind blinked.

Kuroba pressed his head forward, clearly getting in some tongue—and winced, drawing back a bit an instant before something snapped. Kudo outright _snarled,_ flipping them around to pin _Kuroba_ to the tree, and the kiss suddenly got a lot more involved and Heiji stumbled back a step, gaping and tripping on a root only to end up on his backside on the ground as Kudo took Kuroba's mouth in a way that belonged in a porn movie before finally pulling away, pausing to lick a smear of blood from Kuroba's lower lip.

"Watch the fangs," he rumbled, more a growl than a murmur.

Kuroba laughed, bright and breathless, "But you respond so _well_ when I'm bleeding!"

Heiji's brain blinked again, and suddenly part of it made sense. _Terrifying_ sense, but sense. The Kuroba kissing him part—well… yeah, okay, maybe. The Kudo pulling _that_ in front of witnesses part, though… knowing Kudo was a vampire and watching him heal entirely too fast to be human was one thing.

Watching him lose his usual calm control like _that_ was something else entirely, and that it was because Kuroba had (apparently intentionally) nicked his tongue on one of Kudo's fangs was more than a little disturbing.

A sputter behind him, and he was pretty sure that was Suzuki-han. "Wh-what was _that?_ Ran, did you know about that!?"

Yeah, Suzuki-han. And good question.

"Ah, I knew Kuroba-kun had asked him out a little while ago, but…"

Kudo was leaning forward, head planted in Kuroba's shoulder as his own shoulders shook slightly, and Kuroba looked faintly panicked for several seconds before calming and giving a sheepish grin, "Sorry, Shinichi. Didn't notice the audience."

Kudo straightened up, shaking his head with a helpless sort of chuckle, "Liar. You completely set that up, didn't you?"

Kuroba gasped theatrically, placing a hand over his heart with a wounded expression, "How could you think such a thing, dearest? That I— _I_ would be able to predict the exact moment in which our fellow retreat-goers would come tearing around the corner chasing after you!"

A faintly quirked eyebrow and Kuroba grinned, "Okay, fine, I noticed them and baited you into taking over. I'm not sorry!"

"You," Shinichi informed him flatly, "Are getting the _floor_ tonight."

Heiji wasn't the only one to choke at the implication there.

Kuroba only grinned, "You mean you're letting me into your room? That's a first. I'm not entirely sure the floor's a punishment, comparatively."

Or… not implication? Huh. With a kiss like that one, though, Heiji felt he could be forgiven the assumption.

Kudo sighed, "You know how I am with stress, these days, and frankly you're the best at snapping me back to myself. It's safer if we share a room."

Kuroba abruptly went serious, "Right. Sorry. I forget that most people don't know how to deal with this kind of thing. Thinking of—you, house. _Now._ Izanami bless, Shinichi, you need to take better care of yourself!"

Izanami*, huh? Didn't seem to suit Kuroba, but Kudo… yeah, he could see her backing Kudo. He could also see her backing being part of why Kudo wasn't dead.

Damn it, he'd been trying not to think about that part!

 _xxxx_

 _*I have a friend who loves codes of all kinds, especially cyphers, and we used to write letters back and forth in varying types. We started out with the simple shift-cyphers and never sent keys—if we wanted to read the letters, we had to break the cyphers. Fun fact: in English, simple-shifts are easy to crack because the most commonly used letter in English writing is 'e'. Usually, you can count letter-usage and match the one used the most as 'e', then just write out overlapping alphabets and transcribe from there. If 'e' doesn't work, 'a' and 's' are both great candidates as well. If all else fails, there's only twenty-five times you can be wrong._

 _*Izanami's a hell-goddess with a Persephone-styled background, though not the same. Interesting legend—anyone with interest in such things should take a few minutes to look it up._


	38. Glint

_Sorry. This part's been finished for a while, but I suffered a relapse and ended up in the hospital for a few days. I probably will be slow updating for a bit. To reiterate, nothing is life-threatening, just miserable. I'm really tired all the time, and will have trouble focusing until things sort themselves back out in my nervous system. I hadn't thought of this chapter as finished, but I don't want it to wallow anymore._

 ** _(38)  
Glint_**

"Wasn't really expecting you to get so into it," Kaito murmured as he dropped his duffle on the dresser of the guest room Shinichi had been given.

"I maintain my previous claim," Shinichi informed him, probably referencing the 'in front of Hakuba' kiss. "I'm starting to _like_ the SynthBlood."

"Huh," Kaito managed to sound casual, but he could feel himself blushing. "So, uh… my blood is better?"

Shinichi glanced at him, and there was something a little strange in his eyes. Not— _quite_ —vulnerable, but uncertain. His voice came out steady and matter-of-fact, though. "Significantly."

And no one else listening meant… "I think I'm… not sure if I'm more flattered or surprised," and Shinichi _was_ a technical vampire, so maybe it shouldn't be surprising that he'd started developing a taste for such things. People _did_ tend to crave foods (or drinks) that had things their bodies needed… or were addicted to, in the case of sugar and drugs (yes, he was including caffeine in the 'drug' part), and his little doctor had him drinking that stuff for a reason. "You planning on taking me up on the standing offer?" he asked, only half teasing.

Shinichi froze for an instant, then shook his head with a visible shudder. "I don't know if you've _noticed,_ " the flat glare was a little unnerving, "but my fangs are _weapons,_ and mouths have bacteria that just don't belong in puncture wounds."

Okay, that was a good point. Cuts weren't so prone to infection, though, and cleaning them was a lot easier—and he was _not_ thinking about that. Nope. He'd been reading _way_ too much vampire-themed pulp fiction, lately, and whatever wasn't horror was romance. Bad idea all around.

"Right," Kaito made a face, "Not exactly what I was thinking about. Anyway, I guess all your detective and police friends talk to and know each other, don't they?"

Shinichi nodded, tipping his head pointedly toward the door.

"Well. That means I maybe shouldn't have perpetuated the rumors," he gestured questioningly, and Shinichi refuted the half question with his own pointed headshake.

Shinichi had calculated the responses; of _course_ he had, he calculated _everything_ even when he then dismissed those calculations. He was planning on—or at least _for_ —that scene getting back to the rumor mill somehow.

"You're not really mad, are you?" Kaito had to ask, because he wasn't entirely sure and he felt he needed to be.

"No," Shinichi sighed before his lips quirked up in that teasing half-smile that made Kaito feel all warm and gooey inside. "It was completely worth the embarrassment."

Kaito pounced on him and kissed him again, although this time he paid attention to the fact that those fangs were _sharp._ He hadn't actually meant to make himself bleed, earlier, though he wasn't at all against the response it got. Even if he was pretty sure that response would only be blood-triggered due to cover-maintenance in front of witnesses, which Shinichi wasn't entirely comfortable with.

Shinichi gave a huffing laugh as he gently shoved Kaito back, " _Behave,_ Kaito."

Kaito gave him an unrepentant grin, "But I _like_ kissing you!"

"You also like dying Hakuba-san's hair green and annoying people who swing mops and book-bags at you. That doesn't mean all these things are good for your health."

Kaito huffed his own laugh, chancing a glance towards the door to check if Shinichi's slight shift towards silent communications had the cause he thought. And—yes, a shadow through the gap beneath. Eavesdropping on purpose or just too flustered to interrupt hardly mattered: it was very likely that their conversation had been at least partially audible, so the care was warranted either way.

"And I suppose that's a reason to stop?" he teased back. Really, he was just happy that Shinichi was so willing to try—Kaito had _meant_ it when he'd said he wouldn't hold it against Shinichi if he wasn't comfortable with kissing. When his boyfriend (that was still a giddiness-inducing thought, so he tried to only think it in moderation) had sat down and _talked_ to him about it, uncomfortable and blushing but entirely honest…

Well. He'd realized that it was more than a crush, that he was outright in love with Shinichi, but that had caused a swell of such overwhelming emotion that he couldn't even find a word for it. Shinichi wasn't just _willing_ to try, he was putting in thought and effort and _wanting_ it to work enough that he placed himself repeatedly in a place he wasn't comfortable with so he could _learn_ to be comfortable.

Shinichi might not love him quite the same way, but he loved all the same. Shinichi wasn't as physical as Kaito, but was willing to be because it would make _Kaito_ happy, and that… that…

"That's a reason to be careful," Shinichi's dry correction broke through the semi-tangent of thought, and Kaito's chest felt a little tight, a little too small for the warmth swelling it.

Even in this, Shinichi's gentle scolding was an admonition for Kaito's sake, but not restricting. Never that. Just—a mild reminder to pay attention, to not get hurt.

Shinichi had certainly cornered him many times, and captured him in more ways than one… but he'd never _caged_ Kaito. He'd always set him free in the end, even those few times when he'd had Kaito—KID, rather—dead-to-rights. There had always been that bud of respect, that steady belief that he wasn't an enemy hidden under all the words and shown through subtle but repeated action.

Shinichi was okay with kisses, now, but he didn't seem to actively _like_ them so much as no longer find them uncomfortable. Hugs, though… Kaito stepped forward the meter it took to draw Shinichi entirely into his arms, a sound that could have been a breathless laugh or an overwhelmed sob catching in his own throat. "You know I love you, right, Shinichi?" he asked.

Because he did. Loved and was in love all at once, and he would do _anything_ to see Shinichi safe and happy, even if he had to break his own heart to do it. If Shinichi ever ended up turning him away… he'd go. Without protest, without resentment, he would _go_ if Shinichi asked it of him, would give up Kid, would give up seeking Pandora, would give up his life and his own happiness if it only meant Shinichi could live and smile, and somehow every time Shinichi said or did something like this, it only made Kaito love him more.

Shinichi sagged against him, and the swell of sun-bright warmth chilled with concern. "Shinichi?"

"Yeah," Shinichi's arms slid around him, returning the embrace with a low murmur. "I know."

Still uncertain, then, because Shinichi would never say something like that back unless he was _sure,_ and he obviously didn't know how he felt, but Kaito wasn't worried. He'd made his decisions, and Shinichi's would not change his. He would be there for as long as Shinichi needed him, and by his side as long as he allowed it, in whatever _way_ he allowed.

His arms tightened briefly, communicating his understanding through the gentle squeeze. "We should probably reappear before they wonder what we're up to."

Shinichi snorted, rolling his eyes. "Hattori, Ran, and _Sonoko_ are here. They're _already_ wondering what we're up to."

Kaito laughed, letting go of Shinichi to move towards the door. "Good point. Come on, then! Let's go watch the fun expressions!"

"… This is like what you said about Hattori's 'jealous face' isn't it?"

Kaito grinned, flinging open the door with a lack of denial and promptly ignoring the wide-eyed Suzuki Sonoko on the other side, "Maaaybe!" he thrilled back.

He heard a soft 'tup-hiss' sound behind him and he yelped and dropped to the floor, only for a pillow to land on top of him with a downy 'fwump'.

Shinichi grinned, holding up a pen with a blinking light, "That was way too easy," he informed.

Kaito cracked up, flinging the pillow back towards his boyfriend and ignoring Sonoko-san's gaping. "I really _am_ a bad influence!"

 _xxxx_


	39. Shine

_I'm alive. Really. Promise. This is kind-of short, but you may have it anyway. A more fun chapter, I think._

 ** _(39)  
Shine_**

The next day progressed with much less nervousness with Kaito around—there was still the obvious _awareness_ of Shinichi's 'state of being', but it was hard to get worked up when he and Kaito ended up in a prank war that mostly consisted of brightly colored dyes and copious amounts of glitter and pulled in anyone attempting to watch from the fringes.

(Kaito cackled for three minutes straight when Shinichi got Hattori with a bright purple-and-green tie-dye effect that clashed horribly with the Osakan's skin-tone and incited a series of attempts at retaliation that all failed spectacularly.)

Eventually everyone but Shinichi and Kaito teamed up to try and take the two who seemed to have become chaos incarnate down. Shinichi and Kaito decided to take it as a three-way battle royale and rained colorful mayhem on everyone, including each other.

The sheer disaster that was the villa that evening had Sonoko despairing, and there was halfhearted grumbling about to having to spend a day of their vacation cleaning, but the Anti-Chaos Team (as Sonoko had dubbed them, though they hadn't lived up to the name) had ended up agreeing amongst themselves that at least the instigators hadn't worked together. _That_ would have been a nightmare.

Shinichi snickered when eavesdropping through the bugs he'd planted, catching Hattori complaining in confusion about the sudden penchant for _causing_ the chaos. He'd thought the Osakan would have noticed sooner that he got restless when things were quiet—and surely pranking was better than causing mental trauma like his mother did.

Once everyone but he and Kaito had gone to sleep, Shinichi raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend and made for the living room. Kaito grinned and followed, bringing his supplies, and in less than an hour they had the house looking like nothing had happened. Kaito liked color and mayhem, but he wasn't _destructive,_ and his materials weren't either.

Besides, spending at least a half-day cleaning would have been a poor way to spend time, no matter how much fun they'd had making the mess. Kaito wouldn't have been able to use some of his more obviously Kid-honed clean-up tricks with witnesses.

 _xxxx_

Ran and Heiji were the first ones up the next morning, encountering each other in the upstairs hallway (the second floor had been an undeclared and undisputed safe-zone during the mayhem) and Heiji blinked at the girl, not having expected her up so early. "Hey, Neechan. It's only seven?" he half-asked, shifting his bokken to his other shoulder so he wouldn't accidentally hit her.

She waved dismissively, "I thought I'd get started cleaning the kitchen so we can have breakfast later," she explained.

Heiji winced at the reminder, but trailed after her towards the stairs anyway.

Neechan stopped on the penultimate* stair and just _stared_ and Heiji instantly got more alert, "Neechan? What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she kept staring, "It's just…" she waved faintly at the general area before her, "I… didn't _dream_ yesterday, did I?"

Confused, Heiji prompted her forward and found himself staring, too.

The house was _spotless._ Well, not spotless—Suzuki-han's jacket was draped over the back of the couch and the books were still scattered across chairs while the board-game that had been disrupted due to _mass Kudo-Kuroba prank attacks_ was still on the coffee-table, set up exactly as it had been _before_ an attempt at retaliation had sent the pieces scattering across the carpet.

Heiji had to shut his mouth. The only things missing were the mugs and cups, which a quick check proved were on the drying rack in the kitchen.

"I don't… _think_ so?" because it was crazy _._ Crazier than the fact that Kudo had gone _Kaitou KID-style prank happy._ Kuroba's pranks were less of a surprise, considering he was an even more flamboyant magician than KID, from what Heiji had found out. He'd had his entire high school resigned to chaos and not a single teacher willing to assign detention for fear of being stuck in a room with him for too long.

He'd also had that bastard Hakuba in his class, who purportedly regularly accused him of being Kaito KID and had tried many times to prove it, but had generally provided evidence that pointed in the opposite direction.

(Either KID was _scary_ good, or he wasn't Kuroba. Not that it mattered; Kudo trusted him—and Kudo only trusted people who could be trusted. Which meant if Kuroba _was_ KID, he could still be trusted. Which was good enough for Heiji, no matter how crazy the guy was.)

Neechan apparently decided to give up, turning towards the kitchen with an air of 'just accept it' around her as she dug a cookbook out of a cupboard and settled at the table, flipping through for something interesting to make.

Heiji shrugged to himself and went outside to practice his kata. Whatever this was, he was going to blame it on Kuroba and Kudo. And possibly magic, considering Kudo had cited Kuroba as having had a witch in his class and was very obviously sporting _fangs._

(He really needed to stop thinking about that kind of thing. He was creeping himself out.)

 _xxxx_

The relative peace lasted for another day, Shinichi and Kaito's prank-war dying down to minor things aimed mostly at each other, before Sonoko announced that they had a fishing tour arranged for the afternoon.

Shinichi didn't bother glancing towards Kaito, only giving an immediate, "Yeah, _no._ I'll stay here."

Ran blinked, "I thought you liked that kind of thing?" she half-asked.

"Okay, one: if I walk into that town, I am _going_ to end up tripping over a body and most of the people here should know it; and two: sun. Not happening."

"Ah, right," Ran blushed. "I forgot."

He waved off the concern as the others hesitated, too polite to want to leave him completely by himself, which Kaito handled neatly. "I'll stay with him," he bounced to his feet, "There's a new glitter formula I've been meaning to get worked out, and I bet he can help me on the chemistry!"

Shinichi shook his head, but he couldn't hold back the smile, "Of course there is. Hakuba your planned test subject, then?"

Kaito grinned, "Isn't he always?"

"I feel like I should warn him," Shinichi informed blandly. "Or maybe 'shield'. You're pretty hard on the guy—isn't he the one you stuck to the ceiling in high-school?"

"No?" Kaito offered.

"… because the hesitation makes your denial sound so honest. Fine, fine—I'll help, if only so you don't end up giving a fellow detective a week-long rash or something."

Hattori muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "He deserves it," and Shinichi turned a raised eyebrow on the Osakan.

"Well, everyone else should get ready," Sonoko pointed out.

Shinichi sat back as Kaito came to flop down in front of him, clinging to one of his calves like a particularly huggy octopus, content to watch the bustle from his seat in the armchair he'd claimed. It was a very comfortable armchair, blue and the kind of soft that was a little hard to get back up out of.

It had been several days since anything negatively exciting had happened, and the break was nice.

(He shouldn't have let himself think it, but—it _was._ )

 _xxxx_

 _*Penultimate is my mom's favorite word in the English language, and when I was reading through my draft I considered the fact that it's fairly likely that no one else hears it in casual conversation. I do, so I fall to using it pretty often, but I just couldn't bring myself to replace it with 'second-to-last' even though more people would understand it. I honor my mother! (I did, in deference to those not raised by people with Librarianship degrees, tag it with a notice.) Also: 'pen-' from Latin 'paene', meaning 'almost'; and 'ultimate', in this usage meaning 'final' or 'last'. The definition is 'one before the last', thus: second-to-last, though the literal meaning is 'almost last'._


	40. Fortune

_Still alive! Slowly getting better, now. So, here, have a celebration chapter!_

 ** _(40)  
Fortune_**

"What even—we didn't even leave the _villa!_ " Kaito flailed in emphasis, " _Shinichi!_ "

"I didn't _do_ anything!" Shinichi defended, ignoring the four sleeping and very duct-taped men that Makoto and Honda were glowering at as Hattori rang the local precinct off to the side. "They were after Sonoko!"

Sonoko, who (like Ran and Kazuha) was a little white around the edges, thus Kaito's over-the-top complaining. Also, Kaito kind of wanted to be more than a little white around the edges himself, because the big one had managed a good slice across Shinichi's ribs. One long and deep enough that blood loss could have been a problem except that it was _Shinichi_ , with his weird supercharged healing factor.

Kaito breathed out harshly, half-laugh, and shook his head. "Shin-shin, it's never your fault. It's just your _luck._ Or possibly curse, considering."

Shinichi grimaced and prodded at the rapidly scarring gash across the side of his chest, "I noticed," he informed dryly. "Looks like this is going to scar a bit," he added, tugging his shirt up to rub at the blood enough to get a better look at the sealed over, but not quite healed, tissue.

Kaito laughed outright at that, not for the words but for the dumbfounded mouthed repeat that quite a few of the others in the room pulled. "I'll still love you," he informed, "but _please_ stop scaring me like that."

Shinichi frowned at him, "It was just a cut, Kaito. I'm fine."

Kaito eyed him skeptically. "Uh-huh. And that's why you're doing the shaky twitchy thing. Come on, Shinichi—let's get you fed."

Shinichi trailed after him when he went for the kitchen while everyone else opted to stay in the room with the would-be kidnappers, and Kaito lowered his voice, "Seriously, Shinichi—stop scaring me like that. What if he'd gotten your heart?"

Shinichi sighed, "I can't promise that, Kaito. When I see someone in danger…"

"You're getting reckless," Kaito snapped, frustrated. "You're not being _careful_ anymore!"

Shinichi stopped dead, and when Kaito looked at him he could see how startled he was.

"You… didn't notice?" That had _implications,_ and most of them weren't good. He'd seen Conan-sized Shinichi reckless before, usually only when desperate but sometimes… sometimes when riding emotion. Self-loathing, frustration, depression. It had been a while since he'd seen that, and he'd hoped to never see it again.

(But Shinichi _hated_ lying, and he was still stringing everyone along out of galling necessity. Was it any surprise there was some lack of thought before action seeping in?)

Shinichi shook his head, "I'm sorry. I… no, I didn't. I know I've been getting… _frustrated_ lately, but I didn't think…"

"We'll talk," Kaito decided, "but later. After the idiots have been arrested and you've been properly fed. Your Synth will probably handle the shakiness, but we should get a proper meal in you all the same."

Shinichi nodded, frowning to himself, and let Kaito mix him a up a mug, drinking it without complaint. Within several minutes, his hands did stop shaking and he tipped his head back with a groan when sirens sounded off in the direction of the road.

"Probably better go escort them in," he observed.

Kaito nodded, "I'll come, too. Do these ones know you?"

"Depends on who they sent," Shinichi shrugged, "I might know some from this area, but most of them only know Conan, not me."

Right. Wow, that had to be depressing—it wasn't even like those few people he'd met only as Kid, because everyone already _knew_ Kid was a false identity. Besides which, Kid was an _identity,_ he was a deliberate mask and for all that some of Kaito bled through in abilities, Kaito was _not_ Kid. Conan… Conan had been Shinichi's _life_ for nearly four years, with very few moments where he could really be himself and nowhere but a mad inventor's house where he could even answer to his own name, and even then… only sometimes.

Shinichi had lost years of his life to that, to _Conan,_ and he hadn't even had a proper chance to come to terms, with how quickly everything else had cropped up. The list of things to talk about was growing rapidly the more Kaito thought about it, and how wasn't Shinichi _insane?_

Still. Police first.

 _xxxx_

"Well," Ran decided, looking around at the others (barring Kaito and Shinichi, with the former having dragged the latter off into the woods, ostensibly to talk but Ran was _not_ going to speculate). "That was different."

"Different?" Sonoko flapped her arms, "Kudo got _stabbed in the chest!_ "

"Techni'cl'y, tha' was a cut," Hattori pointed out. "Big cut, but cut."

Sonoko flailed, "Who cares! He was _hit with a knife,_ okay? And—what, ten minutes later it's already a scar?"

Ran had been trying to forget that part. It was one thing to see fangs and watch him drinking mugs of red liquid that wasn't actually blood. It was one thing to see him go all dominatingly aggressive while kissing Kaito-kun because of a nicked lip—or possibly tongue, Ran hadn't quite figured that one out. Yes, she didn't think Shinichi would lie to her—omit, sure, but not lie—but part of her still knew his mother and had vaguely pointed out it could all be acting. She hadn't _believed_ it was, but the fact that a normal person _could_ do it was a good way to keep herself calm.

The cut that should have required stitches and weeks to heal closing in _minutes,_ even if Shinichi complained that it would scar? That… that couldn't be faked. And the fact that he'd broken a man's wrist by _grabbing_ it—not twisting or anything, just closing a hand down over his knife-hand and squeezing without much effort—and probably fractured another's ribs by batting him aside with what looked like _restraint_ …

"Yeah," Ran agreed, not sure what else to say.

"Kudo was protectin' _ya,_ " Hattori pointed out, sharp and looking a little unsteady himself.

Sonoko flailed more, then settled abruptly, "I know," she stated. "I know."

"Kudo-kun looked more upse' than the res' of us," Kazuha mused out loud. "… I… I think I feel _better_ abou' this, now."

Ran wasn't sure how she felt about it, but 'better' probably wasn't on the list. She'd never seen Shinichi so willing to get hurt before—although, she supposed now he knew he would recover from it if he did, which might have influenced his sense of self-preservation. Less need to be careful if injury recovery was measured in minutes instead of weeks, after all.

Still. Shinichi was a vampire _,_ and Ran had just seen it _proven._ It was more than a little disturbing.

(Why _Shinichi?_ )

 _xxxx_

"Why _were_ you so reckless?" Kaito asked after they'd gotten out of sight of the manor, settling himself beneath a tree.

Shinichi sighed, sitting down next to him, "Honestly? My thoughts were partly along the lines of 'in a rush' and partly 'I'll get better anyway'. I mean—yeah, I tried not to get hit anywhere immediately fatal, but I also kind of had a vague awareness of the intimidation factor."

"Intimidation factor," Kaito said flatly, his voice lacking the inflection for a question but somehow implying mass amounts of skepticism all the same.

"This," Shinichi informed, "is how I know you're not the _bad_ kind of criminal. Most people—if they see someone get hurt, they kind of… _cringe._ Hesitate. With how many murderers I've dealt with… the ones that had personal reasons but were mostly good people still did that. They hesitated over killing or hurting people they hadn't _planned_ on hurting."

Kaito clearly didn't know where Shinichi was headed, but gestured for him to continue anyway.

"Then there are the ones running scared, willing to do a lot to cover their tracks. Usually those reasons were less personal—usually revenge—and more greed. Things would get dicey, and they'd hurt whoever got in their way. There were also the ones more like the professionals we've both met—you're in the way. You're not a _person,_ just an obstacle, and the easiest way to eliminate obstacles is to kill them. Both of those—if you get hurt, _really_ hurt, and _keep going_ —it makes them _flinch._ They pause, they falter—they get scared and _make mistakes._ Not a tactic I've ever used on purpose, but…"

"You were taking advantage of the possibility," Kaito stared at him, "That's a very specific kind of lack of caution."

Shinichi sighed again, "Four, Kaito. And they were the greedy kind. The greedy kind… they're less predictable. When things get too hectic, they tend to get aggressive, and things were getting hectic. Sonoko is one of two people in this 'retreat' who doesn't have the training or experience to get out of that kind of thing herself. And as long as I didn't let him hit me anywhere instantly fatal…"

"We need to come up with better contingency plans," Kaito stated.

Shinichi snorted, "We need to come up with contingency plans, period."

"Well, now that's out of the way… are you really okay with this? I mean," Kaito gestured vaguely, "The vampire thing?"

Shinichi grimaced, "I don't like it," he admitted. "Still… it's not like there's much choice in the matter. I'm not sure about 'okay', but I am resigned to it. Might as well at least _try_ to make it fun. And it does actually have its up-sides."

Kaito huffed at him, then leaned over and gave him a hug, "Well. We'll manage somehow," he stated, perfectly matter-of-fact.

Shinichi huffed back and relaxed into the hug, "Agh, and there's still so much I need to _do,_ " he complained. "Oh, gods. And I still need to talk to Jodie-sensei, hopefully before Megure gets a hold of her."

"Miss FBI?" Kaito blinked, "Oh, right. You told her about the 'Conan' thing."

Shinichi leaned harder, tipping Kaito over into the dirt, and landing mostly on top of him, ignoring the complaining 'oof'. "FBI witness protection kind of needs FBI knowledge and approval, especially when all your friends know the FBI."

Kaito laughed and shoved him off, "Well, I can't argue with that one. But, yeah, if she hears from the police that you're a vampire, she might have a freak-out."

"She did okay with the age regression," Shinichi sat back up, climbing to his feet and offering a hand.

"That's only because she had already borne witness to the utter _ridiculousness_ that is your life," Kaito took the hand up. "Is this you saying we should head back?"

"This is me saying that I want actual food."

Kaito grinned, "Well, can't be remiss in my duties! Your little doctor would _experiment_ on me!"

Shinichi laughed, and didn't tell Kaito how true that might be.

Maybe this wasn't the life he would have chosen for himself, but… given an actual choice, he didn't think he'd change it. There were _so many people_ he could count on, now—people he never would have met without the crazy that was his life.

(And wasn't it strange to think that he was _grateful_ that he'd been poisoned?)

 _xxxx_


	41. Appraising

_Short little quiet chapter. Kind of a break. Still, you may have it._

 ** _(41)  
Apprising_**

Jodie Starling had seen a lot of strange things during her time in the FBI and even before, up to and including age-regressed teenagers and immortal women. Well, _woman_ , anyway. Singular, thankfully, considering Vermouth was a terrifying understated psychopath.

Sitting across from a fanged Shinichi and his look-alike (introduced as 'Kuroba Kaito') with James and Shu while he informed them that he'd been gunned down and left for dead months before and either hadn't died or hadn't _stayed_ dead…

"… what are you trying to say, Shinichi-kun?" James asked carefully, clearly not sure he wanted to know.

"Shinichi just didn't want you to get a call from Megure on making sure Conan doesn't turn into a vampire and wonder who slipped hallucinogens into the waterlines," the look-alike—Kuroba-kun—informed. "Running theory is that it has something to do with how he trips over dead bodies, and then got murdered. The fangs and the blood-drinking were a little unnerving, I guess."

"The police _believe_ this?" Jodie asked, surprised. Yes, the Japanese tended to be more superstitions overall than Americans, but not on _western_ lore and 'more' wasn't saying much, really.

"… I got shot through the right lung in front of Nakamori-keibu, Hakuba-san, and most of the Kaitou KID Taskforce. It was kind of hard to miss."

"I caught him walking home with a mostly-healed hole through his chest," Kuroba piped in, "Had to feed him the next morning, after I got something like an explanation. He was a bit shaky. He hadn't grown fangs at that point, though—they were slower coming."

Ah. Erk? What were they supposed to do with that?

"… I usually trust you with less question," Shu stated dryly.

Shinichi actually _rolled his eyes_ and Kuroba pouted and handed him a pocket-knife, "Seriously, Shinichi, why are you _always_ right?"

"Law enforcement," he informed, "Proof. These two things generally go together."

Kuroba sighed huffily, "Nothing deep. You know how I feel about this."

And then, before any of them could stop him, Shinichi sliced open the back of his arm. Jodie yelped as Shu made an aborted motion out of the corner of her eye, James giving an exclamation that sounded a lot like a curse. It _was_ shallow, only skin-deep, and with less blood than she would expect—and Shinichi offered his arm to Shu with a wry twist of lips.

In turn, Shuichi stared at the injury with a look of faint incredulity on his face—which was a lot of expression, for him. After a moment, Shinichi offered him a handkerchief, and Shu scrubbed away the (too-thin) line of blood and Jodie could only stare at the _visibly-thinning scar_ that should have been a bleeding cut.

Okay. So. This _was_ the Boss; who had, rather than dying like a normal person, regressed to the physical appearance of a six-year-old upon being fed a _body-destroying_ poison with an otherwise one-hundred percent fatality rate.

James sat back, eyes slightly wide and both eyebrows raised. "Well," he decided, the first to get his voice back. "I'm… not sure what to think about this."

"Hey, I had a witch in my high-school class. When it comes to the 'not supposed to exist' crazy, you've just got to go with it."

"… Right," James rubbed his forehead, looking mildly distressed, and Jodie didn't know what to say.

It was the Boss, after all, and _weird_ things happened to and around him, which meant… okay, the supernatural aspect wasn't all that farfetched.

"Well," Shu said after a moment of silence, "We're going to need to know what we're working with."

"Not as much as we're leading people to believe, honestly," Shinichi replied promptly. "I mean, yes, I need blood or something that breaks down to the same nutrients—I have a trusted chemist making me a synthetic—and, yes, I can get shot in the chest and walk away, but… most of it is hearsay. The sun gives me headaches, but nothing worse, and the strength thing is a myth that we're propagating with some of the Hakase's inventions. Remember the shoes?"

Jodie wasn't the only one to nod. Oh, yes, they remembered the shoes—it was hard to forget when an apparent six-year-old kicked a soccer ball into concrete. As in, _six inches deep_.

"Like those, but we've been subtly encouraging the idea that they're seals. If something comes up of that nature, rather than trying to remove them, we want people to try and find ways to keep them on me—or at least not want to take them," he showed the ornate silver bands around his wrists.

"Not a bad idea," Shuichi admitted. "Is this just you informing us?"

"Pretty much," Shinichi shrugged, "It seemed like something I shouldn't spring on you in an emergency situation."

"That's appreciated," James admitted. "Was there anything _not_ world-view changing going on?"

Shinichi offered a shrug, "You think it's bad to _hear_ about…"

He had a point. "Well, we still have some time," Jodie offered. "Lunch, anyone?" Oh, was that rude? "Um…"

"I _can_ still eat like a normal person," Shinichi told her. "Lunch sounds great. Kaito?"

"Oooh, can we go to that new café on the corner? Aoko says it's great!"

Oh, now that was interesting. Kuroba looked brightly cheerful at the prospect and the Boss looked… _fond_. Almost gentle. _Very_ interesting.

(Jodie just about melted at the cuteness when Kuroba kissed Shinichi's cheek when he said "If it's all right with everyone else.")

 _xxxx_

"That went smoothly," Kaito mused as they headed home from the café (which had indeed lived up to Aoko's 'great').

"Surprisingly so," Shinichi agreed. "Now let's see if we can get all the way home."

"Don't _say_ that, Shin-shin," Kaito groaned, "Now we're going to spend the rest of the day dealing with _something._ "

"Kudo, Kuroba-kun!" a familiar voice called from off to the side, and Kaito gave Shinichi a 'what did I just say?' look.

"Good afternoon, Sato-san. Do you need something?"

"Your dad's phone number," Sato replied promptly. "My mom wants an autograph."

"Oh? On anything specific?" Shinichi blinked, and Kaito relaxed a bit. That didn't sound like an all-day project—well, for them. Chasing down Yuusaku might be, but that was Sato-san's problem.

"She really likes the Night Baron novels, and I think her favorite was… the third one? I don't remember the name."

"Hm," Shinichi shrugged, "I can give you his phone number, but it might be quicker for me to ask him myself—I'll probably see him tonight."

"How about both?" Sato asked, "Mom's birthday is next week, and I wanted to do something kind of special."

"Okay, here," Shinichi rattled off a set of numbers that Sato dutifully put into her phone, and right as she finished it rang in her hand.

"What? Kidnapping and murder? Wait—the person who was kidnapped wasn't the one killed, right? Okay—Kudo, are you coming?"

Oh, yeah, there it was. That was a crime Shinichi would be taking on. And with a possible life to _save,_ Kaito couldn't even disagree. Time would be important. Shinichi's "Yes" was only expected, but the fact that he glanced at Kaito for confirmation before saying it was extremely flattering.

"Right, okay, I'm bringing Kudo and Kuroba-kun with me. We'll be there in ten minutes."

Well. Back to daily life with Shinichi.

(If he were honest, Kaito wouldn't change it for the world.)

 _xxxx_


	42. Misgiving

_So, a bit of an awkward place to leave off, and not as funny of a chapter, but it'll be important later. Promise. Also, accidentally posted the un-fixed version of the last chapter, as apparently I somehow managed to not save after I edited, so I re-did the edits and replaced it. Very little actually changed, aside from a detail implication earlier on.  
_

 ** _(42)  
Misgiving_**

Kaito found himself fascinated by the way Shinichi managed to root out things that even he never would have guessed at, seeming to pry into the father's thoughts for information that hadn't been told to the police about the kidnapping. Even more interesting was that Shinichi got that look—that 'I know what's going on here' realization look—just before his eyes went flinty-sharp, cutting briefly towards the father before he nodded, expression smooth and reassuring. "Excuse me, Nozomi-san, I need to speak with Megure-keibu."

Kaito stepped closer, tagging along as Shinichi dodged out into the hall, "What was it?"

"Did you notice his wording?"

Kaito blinked, "… 'I want the man who stole my son from me punished and my son returned to me'?"

"That's not… it doesn't feel right."

Kaito frowned.

"Also, if you look around the house—those pictures that have the son in them, they're…" Shinichi hesitated, then shook his head and moved towards the hall table, gesturing to where one of said pictures hung above it in an eye-catching manner.

Kaito looked at it, wondering what he was supposed to be seeing. The kid in question holding a test paper in his hand, the 'A' mark in clear view. He looked… not proud, or happy. More… Kaito couldn't put a finger on it, but it seemed an odd picture to put in such a pride-of-place.

"You see? The whole thing feels wrong. And the person who was murdered—Nozomi-san said he didn't recognize her, but… I think he's lying."

"… You think he killed her?"

Shinichi paused, "There's been too much disturbance on the scene for me to decide that without finding more evidence first. But I _do_ think that there's something wrong here, aside from the obvious. Or maybe _against_ the obvious."

Kaito nodded slightly, agreeing but not really understanding. "But you have something for Megure-keibu?" It came out as a question.

Shinichi shook his head, restarting his walk towards the larger sitting room that the police were using as a base in the house. "More wanting to know what they've already been told. It might help clear things up. The fact that Nozomi-san doesn't want to stay in the room with them bothers me, too."

When he pointed it out, all those little things _did_ seem odd.

Two minutes later, Shinichi was explaining to Megure and the others in the room—Takagi, Sato, Chiba, and Shiratori. "It's like Nozomi-san sees his son as a possession instead of a person," he mused. "Maybe an animal, like a prize-winning horse that he owns but doesn't personally work with."

That was exactly it, Kaito realized. The photos in the hallway were very show-off-ish, only since the boy in them didn't look happy or proud, he wasn't the one showing off. No, he looked… _relieved_ , Kaito realized, looking over at several similar pictures on the mantle. "You think he's an assisted runaway, then?"

"There's no actual proof, yet," Shinichi pointed out, but Kaito took note of the 'yet'. "Unless we can get a confirmed identity on the woman…"

Megure nodded, clearly troubled, and Kaito knew none of the police were going to ignore Shinichi's words. They'd be much more attentive to what was going on _inside_ the house, now, not just outside.

Maybe that would help? (Kaito wasn't used to _uncertainty,_ especially about things he wasn't personally invested in. But he didn't know how to handle this kind of thing, and Shinichi clearly _was_ invested. That made him uncertain—he knew how much Shinichi hated seeing people get hurt or killed, how much he tried to stop that kind of thing. It was why he'd been so inclined to trust him, at first. Hopefully they'd be able to keep anything too bad from happening.)

 _x_

The case itself didn't bother Shinichi nearly as much as the one who had brought it to the police—Nozomi Tsuyuu felt _wrong_. More specifically, he gave Shinichi the same sort of feeling that certain Black operatives had, most notably Gin. He had come to associate that feeling not with 'sketchy person' or even 'killer', but rather 'amoral psychopath'.

Not that Gin hadn't been a killer; he _had._ But he hadn't been the kind of killer Chianti was, where she _reveled_ in it, or even like Korn and Vodka, who just followed orders. It was more that he literally felt it was his _right,_ that no one had meaning. To the point where he didn't even remember the names or faces of those he killed—which had, ironically, saved Shinichi's life at one point.

It wasn't _quite_ the same feeling, but it was worryingly close. Still, a feeling was far from proof, no matter that Shinichi's were too often right. (He hadn't been wrong yet, and it was never a good thing.)

 _xxxx_

A full day passed before they got something new, and it was the kind of new that had Shinichi grimacing in displeasure. "The woman was his missing wife's sister," Megure informed. "Fraternal twin, to be exact. You're right that he's hiding something: there's no way he didn't know who she was."

Shinichi rubbed his forehead, wishing absently for his thermos as he tongued a fang. "There are quite a few things that don't add up, and… I don't like the feel of him. Which isn't proof of anything, but the last time I got this feeling from someone, he bashed me over the head and poisoned me, so…"

Megure snapped to attention, " _What?_ "

Ah. He hadn't actually said _why_ he'd ended up with the FBI, had he?

He coughed, "Remember that case at Tropical Land where the man was beheaded on the Mystery Coaster?"

Megure stared at him.

Shinichi took that as a 'yes'. "The two in black trench coats were professional strong-arms, with secondary professions of 'assassins'. Long story short, I saw something they didn't want me to and got knocked out and poisoned for it—thus my involvement with the FBI and that multi-national crime syndicate."

Megure opened and closed his mouth several times, words failing him. Shinichi offered a semi-apologetic shrug, "Either way, I think we should make sure no one's left alone with the father. He probably won't do anything unless he thinks we suspect him, but just to be safe…"

"Are you excluding yourself, Kudo-kun?" Megure asked carefully.

Well. Kaito did have class, so wasn't around. "… I could, if you have an idea," Shinichi decided. "But I wasn't. Believe it or not, I don't actually have any masochistic tendencies. I'm just a trouble magnet," he paused, registered what he'd just said, and covered his face with one hand. "I have been spending _way_ too much time with Kaito."

Megure chuckled, only half scandalized. "I'm glad you have him, Kudo-kun. Do you have any ideas as to where to start looking?"

"The mother's family," Shinichi informed, making a mental note to check into the 'missing' part. "I can go with whoever goes to inform them, now that we have an ID on the sister. I have a feeling, but nothing concrete."

Megure nodded, accepting that, "I'll send Takagi and Sato."

Shinichi relaxed a hair, "Good. They're easy to work with. Let me grab my bag."

 _xxxx_

Sato eyed her partner and their… she wanted to say 'civilian assistant', but she knew it was really more like they were his police assistants, because Kudo-kun was _terrifyingly_ good; not looking forward to handling what they'd been given to do. Normally, Megure-keibu tried to give bad news himself, but under the circumstances… well, it wasn't too surprising that he was leaving it to them.

Bad enough that Kudo-kun suspected that something wasn't right. Worse that he actually made the request that no one was left alone with Nozomi-san. Worse again that Kuroba-kun had class and wasn't there. Worst out of all, so far, was that she and Takagi were supposed to be telling the kidnapped boy's uncle that he'd lost a second sister… and he might not even know the boy had been kidnapped.

What a mess _._ She _hated_ having to tell people their loved ones had been lost.

Kudo glanced at her and sighed softly, "… I can tell him, Sato-san."

She blinked and suddenly understood Takagi's theory on mind-reading. That was _creepy._ "Are you _sure_ you can't read minds, Kudo-kun?"

He paused briefly, "Sato-san, knowing what you're thinking and hearing your thoughts are two different things."

That… wasn't exactly a denial. She thought about that for a moment, then decided not to ask again. She didn't really want to know.

There was more than enough to handle without worrying about Kudo's strange abilities, only made stranger by the change in species. If he _could_ read minds, it would probably make everyone safer, anyway. And he didn't seem to judge. Anyone. Ever.

Which—no. She was _not_ thinking about it. She was going to get in the car and drive them to the missing kid's uncle's house, and then they could see about finding the kid.

 _xxxx_


	43. Fiasco

_Look, I'm still alive! (Also, who saw something like this coming? Don't worry, it'll get worse before it gets better. For a given value of 'worse', anyway.)_

 ** _(43)  
_** ** _Fiasco_**

Megure was resigning himself to an uneasy wait when Chiba burst into the room he and two of the forensics team were camping the phone in.

"Keibu! Hiroshi and Jiro are down, and Nozomi-san is gone! Shiratori's applying first aid, and I've already called an ambulance."

Kuso, he'd figured out they were suspicious of him, and was obviously more dangerous than they'd given him credit for if their other two forensics were taken out so quietly. He should have taken Kudo-kun's warning more to heart, made sure there was a watch on the man. Meanwhile, he'd have to put out an apprehend order and warn Takagi and Sato-san.

"Go help Shiratori," he ordered, already reaching for his phone. "Tanaka, go with him. Izumi, call it in!"

 _xxxx_

Sometimes Shinichi hated being right, he reflected as the _last_ person he wanted to see burst into the house where he, Takagi, and Sato were discussing the overall situation with both the so-called 'kidnap victim' and the uncle.

He was on his feet as soon as he heard the door start to open, a heavy dread building in his chest, and Takagi was moving to cover the uncle, who in turn was getting between his nephew and the heavy thud of running footsteps down the front hall.

Sato moved to the side, her gun coming out as she hit a half-flanking position and Shinichi had less than half a second to calculate the angle of the shots when Nozomi barreled into the room, revolvers leading.

The actions were of a man who didn't really care if he got killed in the act so long as he took down the one he was after.

(Nozomi was insane, and Shinichi _hated_ being right.)

Guns, two, fingers already tightening on triggers—even if Sato took her shot, Takagi's position would have Nozomi's hit him in the chest. _Not acceptable._

But if he knocked the officer away, it would leave the uncle with a bullet in his _head._

(Two options, but only one he could live with. Shinichi could survive, and those were _old_ revolvers, showpieces—deadly weapons, yes, but not _powerful_ ones and it was going to _suck_ but he doubted they had the firepower to put a bullet all the way through one body and into another behind.)

Shinichi threw himself forward, angling both between the weapons and Takagi and _towards_ Nozomi, hitting the man with a tranq-dart.

Sato's gun went off just as Nozomi's two did, one of his spinning away, that shot wild while the other caught Shinichi in the right side of the chest (he'd adjusted for that, because lung-shot he could survive but he wasn't sure about _heart_ so right side was much safer than left) further out than he'd expected but he managed to smack the remaining gun away, too, Nozomi's grip lax with the effects of the dart.

He snarled as Nozomi wavered before slowly dropping unconscious, apparently mildly resistant, tasting blood and doing his level best not to cough.

He'd been right—the bullet hadn't gone through.

(Takagi's phone rang, and no one paid it any mind.)

"Get them out of here, Takagi-keiji," Shinichi growled, refusing to show his bloodied front to the two civilians behind him.

Sato was wide-eyed but already moving to slap cuffs on the man, barking a confirming order at her partner.

Shinichi managed to hold himself upright until he heard a door click shut down the hall, Takagi instructing the two to lock it just in case Nozomi woke before backup arrived, and once he was _sure_ they wouldn't see, he let himself hit his knees, coughing hard.

"Kudo-kun!" Sato skidded to her own knees in front of him even as he heard Takagi running back down the hall, sock-clad feet thumping surprisingly loudly.

"Kaito," he bit out before falling into a second coughing fit, blood spattering the floor as he folded forward and tried to clear his filling lung. His vision flickered, and he managed a rough curse, keeping himself from collapsing completely with a hand braced against the floor.

 _x_

Sato was not in the habit of panicking.

She was also seriously debating taking up the habit at least temporarily, because Kudo-kun had just taken a bullet for her partner.

(Lung-shot, obviously, and her instinct was to call an ambulance but Kudo's vicious snarl and the blood dripping from now-obvious fangs reminded her that it might not be a good idea. The secondary reminder was Kudo speaking, and she scrambled for her phone and the number that all of Division One now had in their contacts' lists.)

Takagi crouched down beside them both, "Kudo-kun?" he demanded, wide-eyed and worried.

"Didn't go through," Kudo stated shortly, breath shallow and wet. "Lung. Can't move without—" he cut off in another cough, "Bleeding too much," he managed, swallowing instead of spitting out the blood gathering in his mouth, "I need…"

Oh. Right. Um.

"Bag, car," he choked around another mouthful of blood.

Takagi took the hint, snatching up his phone as he started for the door, "I'll call Megure-keibu! Sato-san?"

"I'm calling Kuroba-kun," she agreed, hitting 'send'. "Get Megure-keibu to send a car for him!"

"Right! Ekoda University, right?" he didn't wait for a response, raising his phone to his ear.

Sato followed suit, hearing the line dial and start to ring. "It'll be fine, Kudo-kun," she added, though the look he gave her said he knew perfectly well she was reassuring herself.

It _would_ be fine. Kudo would be _fine_.

 _xxxx_

"Kaito, you're ignoring chocolate."

Kaito blinked at his best (female) friend as she waved said chocolate in front of his face, brain not quite having switched tracks. He was still halfway between heist-planning mode and flat-out _worry,_ knowing he'd left Shinichi with only the police as backup.

Aoko sighed at him, dropping down to sit across from him at the small campus cafeteria's table. "Did you get in a fight with your boyfriend?"

"With Shinichi?" that was… not actually ridiculous; he'd probably be horribly upset if he'd fought with Shinichi. "No, I'm just… worried."

Aoko blinked twice, gaping.

"What?"

Aoko shook herself, "You just… I don't think I've ever heard you say that before. What's wrong?"

"It's… I have a bad feeling. Shinichi's on a case that just…" he shrugged, not sure how to describe it. He didn't know what was going on, exactly, though he had some inklings. Shinichi—he was pretty sure Shinichi knew, or was _close_ to knowing, and he trusted Shinichi enough to worry based on his detective's worry.

Aoko frowned and pushed the chocolate bar into his hand, looking concerned. "Will it be all right? Kudo-kun has the police with him, doesn't he?"

Kaito nodded. _That,_ he was sure of—Shinichi could lose anyone trying to keep an eye on him far too easily when he tried, but considering the detective's obvious misgivings, he probably wouldn't _._ Shinichi wasn't stupid; he knew when to keep backup on hand.

His phone buzzed against his hip, and he pulled it out to glance at the screen only to feel a sudden shock of horrified dread.

 _Sato-san._

He answered.

" _Kuroba-kun! Get to the main entrance as fast as you can! We're sending a car for you—Kudo-kun's been shot and the bullet didn't go through; it's lodged in his lung. Should we risk a hospital or…?_ "

That… lung. Still in. (The chocolate bar slipped from numb fingers even as his right hand tightened on his phone.) "Is he…?"

" _Conscious. Said your name, but it's obvious that breathing is causing the bullet to keep the internal wound open._ "

"Ask," he tried to calm himself, not even aware that he was almost to the entrance or that Aoko was following him, wide-eyed and worried.

He heard the woman on the other end of the line doing just that, and couldn't make out Shinichi's response but Sato relayed it a moment later, " _He said 'yes' and 'wait'. I think he wants you here._ "

Kaito swallowed, "Someone needs to give instructions," he managed. "They won't be able to knock him out or even use painkillers. Between that and…" the blare of a siren nearing cut him off, "Ride's here," he breathed out. "Keep me updated."

" _I will,_ " she promised. " _If it helps, he seems more frustrated than worried and Takagi's bringing his drink._ "

That… did, actually. Very slightly. Also, Shinichi was not allowed out of the house without a vest _ever again_.

(Shinichi would be fine. But the 'keep it rumor outside the police' was probably going to fail. They'd have to be more careful about a lot of things, once the vampire thing got out.)

 _xxxx_


	44. Featured

_Off-and-on better, so. Something, anyway. Also, have a present: mostly quiet chapter; filler-ish with plot development._

 ** _(44)  
Featured_**

A tabloid caught wind of it first.

Or, at least, a tabloid was the first to actually publish a column written by a reporter who had taken the rumor spreading out from the hospital staff seriously enough to ask around and do the writing.

On the one hand, it was a tabloid, and most people didn't take those too seriously. On the other… well:

 _ **Vampire in Tokyo?**  
_

 _The Great Detective of the East, Tokyo's own Heisei Holmes, Kudo Shinichi was admitted to the hospital on Monday for emergency surgery due to having been shot in the right lung by an old-style revolver with a .44 caliber bullet, which had lodged near the back curve of his eighth rib._

 _It should have been a tragedy, or at the very least a long recovery, but Kudo Shinichi was released from the hospital that same day by a group of doctors that seemed highly unnerved. "He's fine," one was quoted as saying when this reporter asked. "There's no need to worry, Kudo-san is in no danger."_

 _No danger? This reporter is willing to admit that was an unexpected reply. Had the cause of admission been mistaken?_

 _Further digging showed that, no, the cause had_ not _been mistaken. Hospital documentation recorded the surgery and the removal of a bullet, down to caliber and location and an distinct_ lack _of blood transfusion. Rumors around the break room and the police station both bandy the word 'vampire'._

 _There's something odd about the Heisei Holmes, and this reporter is determined to track down what!_

 _x_

Piece of drama that it was, it wasn't untrue. That tabloid had also sold an awful lot of copies the past few days, and Kaito was more than a little concerned.

"We knew it would come out eventually," Shinichi pointed out.

Kaito sighed, "I know, but… this is going to be one of those things we should probably keep an eye on."

"If not outright call a press conference about to minimize the speculation, you mean?"

Kaito thought that over. "That might be bit extreme, until we know what the speculation looks like."

"And we'd have to be careful what we say, anyway, because we don't want to give certain fans of ours any more reasons to kill us than they already have."

"We have a good base of people who 'know' what's going on," Kaito mused, "Which I know was part of the point, because it _was_ going to come out eventually with how much trouble you get into."

"Thus the fangs," Shinichi agreed. "It'll be fine. It may be a while, but it _will_ be fine."

Kaito hoped he was right. His main worry was curious people looking to find out 'why' and 'how', and he knew that was actually one of Shinichi's as well, though Shinichi was worried for Haibara's sake and not his own, the selfless moron. If there was one thing Kaito had that Shinichi didn't, though, it was contacts in the so-called underworld. He never kept or sold what he stole, always making sure it got back to its rightful owners, but the less violent of those types of people were frankly the best information sources there were available to non-government types.

Add that to Shinichi's government type contacts, and they really could keep a pretty thorough weather-eye on the situation. The press conference was probably overkill, but Shinichi might eventually have to do an interview if they didn't want people pulling one of the pitchfork-and-torch mobs that had been a thing in medieval Europe.

It might not be 'fine', but Shinichi was probably right in that it could be controlled. It wasn't _that_ bad.

(Kaito still didn't like it, inevitable as it had been. All the joking and pranks and insinuations _had_ been done with controlling the fallout when something like this happened in mind—but he didn't have to like it.)

"I'm still calling Jii," Kaito informed.

Shinichi didn't protest, "Probably a good idea," he agreed instead. "I'll call Jodie-sensei and ask Megure-keibu to keep me updated just in case."

Oh, proper eyes on both sides of the law. Who'd'a thunk?

 _xxxx_

'This reporter', a very intrepid young man by the name of Yakkai Moeru, was a lot less subtle in his stalking tactics than he probably thought he was. Or at least not good enough to elude a rightfully paranoid detective and an equally rightfully paranoid phantom thief.

… Maybe Shinichi's perspective was a little warped. Either way, though, the guy was _annoying._ Shinichi had gone to a lot of trouble to avoid having reporters hound him without his express invitation lately, and he did _not_ want to deal with one _stalking_ him.

That in mind, he went to the Beika precinct, Kaito in tow and unwanted tagalong following a ways behind. They hadn't been bugged—if Shinichi hadn't caught it, Kaito would have, and they kept any possibly dangerous conversations behind closed doors, jamming devices, and white-noise generators anyway—which meant the man probably knew how to read lips, or he'd have to get closer.

He'd kept a not-quite-surreptitious line-of-sight, but Shinichi was reasonably sure that he was out of earshot, considering he wouldn't have been able to hear normal conversations himself at that distance. He wasn't superhuman in that area, but his hearing _was_ better than most.

So. Restraining order, maybe? If there was one kind of reporter that Shinichi really disliked, it was the 'tabloid' type. They generally were obnoxious at best, and deliberately slanderous while also flat-out lying at worst. Yakkai hadn't said anything untrue, but he'd either hacked hospital records or had them leaked to him, so he was already treading a fine line: if the records had been leaked, it was on the hospital and/or its personnel, legally speaking. If he'd hacked the records, though—well, Shinichi wouldn't be at all hesitant to get the guy arrested, considering he'd started the stalking routine. There were laws around that kind of thing for a reason.

Yes, he'd known the healing thing was going to come out eventually; it's why he'd gone along with the initial 'vampire' assumption. It was safer than the truth, then turned out to be sort-of true. Still, he didn't like _how_ it had come out.

(Rumor escaping the police ranks? Fine. Injured in front of too many witnesses to hide? More than half expected. Musing on the obvious fangs? Surprisingly unmentioned. Taken from confidential hospital records? _Not_ fine.)

"Are you going to set Division One on him?" Kaito asked.

"No," Shinichi paused, "Well, not directly. I'll let them know what's going on, but I'm not actually going to ask them to do anything about it."

"You won't need to," Kaito grinned, "More than half of them are extremely protective of you."

"That's exactly _why_ I'm telling them what's going on," Shinichi protested, more for Yakkai's benefit than anything. "Can you imagine what any of them would do if they saw someone following me without knowing who it was? Considering the very real price on my head from the last large group I had a hand in exposing, they'd probably assume 'hitman' and act accordingly."

Kaito considered that, then nodded, "You have a point."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Yakkai twitch from the alley-mouth he was lurking in.

"What I don't understand is why he still seems to think he's being subtle. He's been acting almost as shady as KID's snipers, but he's still been in immediate sight-line this whole time."

Kaito snickered, "He'd probably have better luck if he just came out and asked for an interview."

Shinichi scoffed back, "After this? Not a chance. I'm not purposely getting in _grabbing_ range of someone who thought printing confidential medical information that was illegally obtained and stalking were a good ideas. I'm inclined to check with the hospital to find out if they've been hacked."

Kaito frowned, "I hadn't thought of that. I should have, though—you're right, he shouldn't have had access to that information, and if the hospital leaked it on purpose there's a whole different set of issues."

Shinichi grimaced, "I _know._ I'm inclined to set my dad on that—I don't really want to have to deal with it."

"… You mean the guy who dodges his editors for fun?" Kaito asked doubtfully.

"I don't know why they bother chasing him," Shinichi informed. "He's never missed a deadline."

"Really?" Kaito tilted his head, "Huh. It does seem like a waste of time to chase him all over the planet, then."

"Honestly, I think some of them like it. Paid vacation under the pretense of work with a side of hide-and-seek. The rest quit three days in."

"Your family, honestly, Shinichi," Kaito shook his head in mock dismay.

"This coming from the guy who stuck every desk in his high-school classroom to the ceiling?" Shinichi asked, grinning in a way that he knew would make light flash off his fangs. (If he was going to be further exposed, it was going to be on _his_ terms.) He waited a half-beat, then nodded in a conceding manner, "You're right. You fit right in."

Kaito laughed, "I guess I do."

Shinichi pushed open the precinct door and let Kaito dodge past him into the building, "Come on. Let's check in with Megure-keibu and the others—make sure nothing _new_ and dangerously crazy is going on."

There wasn't—yet, at any rate, as Shinichi wasn't optimistic enough to hope it would last—and Takagi assured him that the uncle and nephew he'd outed himself in front of were both all right. Not great, by any means, but the father had admitted to killing both his wife and her twin and was going to be out of the picture for a long, long time. So, those two were safe.

A relief. It would have sucked if they'd gone through that whole mess for nothing.

 _xxxx_


	45. Fielded

_Sorry, sorry. Bit of a relapse, and now showing a pattern. So. Not good, but informative? Meanwhile, I'm not dead._

 ** _(45)  
Fielded_**

Kudo Shinichi was being stalked.

Granted, it was by a reporter, which meant the likelihood of it being with the intent to kill him was fairly low, but Takagi knew he wasn't the only one intending to look into it. Kudo was right, after all—Yakkai Moeru should _not_ have been able to get at medical records, and that meant his methods were illegal in more ways than one.

Stalking in itself wasn't… _technically_ … illegal. It was, however, something that was generally taken seriously, and stalking after the placement of a restraining order _was_ illegal, so Megure-keibu had called Kisaki Eri who had in turn said to keep Kudo-kun at the police station until she called back.

Kudo-kun had settled at his own desk with two cold-case files and some reports on a string of minor robberies. To Takagi's surprise, he passed the latter to Kuroba-kun (who was sitting on the corner of his desk again) while cracking open one of the dusty former himself.

The bullpen was pretty quiet, and Takagi wasn't the only one casting periodic glances towards their two guests, but no one made any moves to bother them.

Kudo flipped through pictures, made a face, and pulled a notebook and pen out from his desk for himself while sliding another set of the same in Kuroba's direction, getting a vague wave of thanks from the usually cheery magician when they slid to a stop against his thigh.

Kudo only nodded and went back to the case file, scribbling something in the notebook here and there before making a sound of disgruntled realization and flipping back through the pictures again.

Kuroba was doing much the same with the string of robberies, although he discarded one report and its attached pictures entirely to the side, and Takagi found it fascinating that the magician was apparently a decent detective. Although perhaps he shouldn't have been surprised, given the way the average magic show was done. Still, it was oddly… _comfortable,_ the way those two were just settled in with their case files. Even he didn't have that kind of easy 'second home' air about him at his own desk.

From Kudo, it wasn't unexpected. From Kuroba, on the other hand—this was a police station and he was sitting on a desk in Violent Crimes, and he _still_ looked completely at ease. Although… he knew Nakamori-keibu and was friends with Hakuba Saguru and childhood friends with Nakamori-keibu's daughter. Maybe this was something that just happened when you spent a lot of time in police headquarters as a kid.

Well, so long as they were happy with it, he supposed, turning back to his own paperwork. (And there _was_ paperwork. The Nozomi case had generated a _lot,_ and the higher-ups kept asking for more, because Kudo _had_ been shot and ended up in the hospital for bullet removal. And then walked out, _perfectly fine_ , less than three hours later. There was no prescribed paperwork for 'consultant is a vampire', and every time he wrote an explaining report, someone wanted _another_ one.)

 _xxxx_

"Shinichi," Kaito said, perfectly serious, as they made their way down the sidewalk towards the Agency (Shinichi cited dire need of 'Ran', and Kaito was inclined to follow up with an Aoko), "We're being followed."

"I am aware," he agreed, steadfastly ignoring the two girls and guy trailing after them, dressed between stereotypical 'goth' and 'punk'. "They aren't exactly being subtle."

That was true, and unlike the (restraining-order-smacked) reporter, they weren't _trying_ to be, either.

"Vampire enthusiasts, you think?" Kaito asked.

Shinichi tugged Kaito's baseball cap lower over his eyes and huffed, but that hardly needed a detective to confirm. "I don't understand why there's so much stupidly inaccurate lore surrounding what amounts to a really annoying and sometimes _weird_ bloodline curse."

Kaito nodded thoughtfully, "Point. You're really not contagious. I would have figured it out by now."

"By tripping over every instance of homicidal intent in a ten kilometer radius, regardless of whether or not said intent ends in death?" Shinichi sniped.

"Yeah, that would be kind of obvious," Kaito agreed. "All of Japan noticed that it happens with you, and that was _before_ the side-effects manifested."

Their followers were now looking between fascinated and disappointed.

Shinichi huffed, "This is why being a homicide detective is really the only feasible career option I have. If the collective idiots in the human race would just _stop killing each other_ , I could do something else with my life."

Kaito paused, considering that. "Do you count as alive or undead?"

Shinichi glared at him. " _Pulse,_ you jerk. And a body temperature of thirty-seven degrees."

Kaito grinned, "Just for the benefit of our not-so-subtle stalkers."

Said stalkers had the grace to look embarrassed when Kaito turned to eye them consideringly, and Shinichi caught him by the scruff like he was grabbing a kitten. " _No,_ Kaito. Just because some drama-seeking tabloid reporter got a few people too curious for good manners does not mean you get to cover them in glitter-glue."

Kaito pouted, "But Shin-shin, _practice!_ "

Shinichi snorted, "Practice on my parents. They have defenses against your brand of crazy."

"Um…" one of the girls blushed, "Sorry. You're right, it was really rude to just follow you around like that. It's just… well… you seemed kind of… intimidating."

Shinichi sighed, rolling his eyes and offering a polite bow, his grip on the back of Kaito's neck making him follow suit. "Kudo Shinichi, nice to meet you. This is Kuroba Kaito."

The girl brightened, "I'm Sawada Retsu! These are my friends, Mizuki Hiromaru and Kurosora Mimi. You're not mean like those girls from Teitan said."

Shinichi's lips quirked wryly, "Considering the amount of time I _didn't_ spend in the in-school classes, there is little actual interaction to base such opinions off of. As one of the more… _memorable_ times I interacted with other students involved me having one of the more popular girls in my year arrested for murder, I would likely have not been referred to as 'kind'."

They got a few blinks at that, and then the questioning turned weirdly enthusiastic as the three no-longer-stalking tagalongs followed them to Poirot before going their separate way.

Kaito side-eyed his boyfriend as they made their way up the stairs, "That was a very strange way to make friends, Shinichi."

Shinichi only shrugged, "So long as they don't join the list of 'recent acquaintances involved in a murder case', I don't particularly care _how_ I meet people."

Kaito considered how often Shinichi ended up stumbling over murders and how often it involved meeting both the murdered and the murderer before anyone actually died, and quietly conceded the point. So far, it was only the absolute most bizarre that had reliably not ended in death— the kids, himself, and Haibara being case-in-point. (He'd met the kids right after he'd been _shrunk,_ Kaito at a heist after having made a previous heist about sixteen types of alarmingly interesting, and Haibara after she had failed to commit suicide with the killer drug she'd created—thus joining the kiddie-crew. Those probably counted as some of the weirdest ways to meet someone, _ever_.)

 _xxxx_

"Oh, Shinichi," Ran sighed, not sure whether to be amused or worried. She'd heard about and then read the article, of course, but to hear that he'd been stalked to the Agency by _vampire-enthusiasts?_

"I _know,_ " he groaned, hiding his face in his hands as Kuroba-kun patted his back in a way that looked more teasing than commiserating.

"Look at the bright side, Shin-shin," the magician grinned while Shinichi stilled in clear wariness, not uncovering his face. "Not mad scientists!"

There was a slight pause, "Kaito," Shinichi straightened, giving him a look that was truly flat, "That is not encouraging. You have now _taunted fate._ When the mad scientists show, I am blaming _you._ "

Ran laughed, "Come on, let's have lunch at Poirot—I don't feel like cooking. Maybe we can do some damage control?"

Shinichi turned big, _sincere_ blue eyes on her, "Ran, you are a wonderful person and I am eternally grateful you are on my side. Also, this is going to suck."

It had taken a long while and a lot of time between chances at seeing Shinichi to realize that his apparent love of attention was in fact exactly the opposite. He had when they were young—what twelve or thirteen-year-old _wouldn't_ want to be famous and respected for something they could do?—but by the time he was sixteen? Arrogance covered a certain level of disgust, and by the time they were eighteen, with months between each brief meeting, she had realized he hated it.

Not just didn't like, but _hated._ And, of course, knowing as she did now that he had been being hunted meant that the former slight resigned disgust that had lain under the pride had been turned to actual _fear._ Valid fear. And now he was going to have eyes on him wherever he went, even by people who before wouldn't have paid enough attention to criminal news to care.

Poor Shinichi. It was only Poirot, but there was no doubt that _everyone_ would be watching him. But—it _was_ a good way to start controlling some of the rumors, if nothing else.

"I know, I know," Shinichi sighed, "I don't have to like it, though, Ran."

Ran blinked, then shrugged off the response to something she hadn't said aloud. Shinichi had always been perceptive like that. "Come on, then, you two. I'll even treat."

"No need," Kuroba-kun grinned back, all bouncy brightness, "I can cover me and Shin-shin."

Shinichi rolled his eyes, but didn't protest, apparently seeing a lost cause. "Fine. Let's. Do we have a plan?"

"Yup! Truth 'em in circles!"

Shinichi laughed, and Ran smiled at the sound. It was short and a little wry, but more honest than she'd expected. Kuroba-kun was a _godsend._ And Shinichi was a vampire.

Somehow, that wasn't as worrying as it had been before. Shinichi was still very much Shinichi, after all, even if he tended to bare his teeth when he scoffed these days. (It was actually kind of funny, when she thought about it. Like an annoyed puppy.)

 _xxxx_


	46. Known

_Okay, so. I'm not dead. Busy and tired, but not dead. So, yeah, this one's mostly a proof-of-life, and it feels kind of clumsy, to me, but. Well. Better than nothing?_

 _ **(46)  
Known**_

The next week passed relatively peacefully, all things considered. The murder rate had not changed, so there were cases to solve, but the instances of stalking were all of a similar kind to the second—vampire enthusiasts. While annoying, most of them were easily handled, and nothing too bad had come of the article.

Yet.

Shinichi wasn't exactly counting on that to continue—if nothing else, the Organization had sent Shiho to investigate the stories on the Isle of Mermaids, and most of what was left of it had been party to trying to find a gem that supposedly granted immortality, so it wasn't like it would be _new_ for them to chase legends. And if anyone kept mad scientists on staff, they would, mostly dispersed or not.

The Monday after that was the first truly bad thing to come of it. Shinichi wasn't sure whether it was better or worse that it wasn't a mad scientist attack.

"I'm sorry, Kudo-kun," Megure-keibu looked genuinely apologetic and Sato-san was shaking her head and muttering about 'idiot politicians' off to the side, "but Ambassador Ricardo is insisting that you're a prime suspect."

Shinichi covered his face briefly, "Seriously? I wasn't even in Haido until you called me here." The one time he wasn't the one to _find_ the dead body, he was claimed suspect by a foreign idiot with enough political clout to make his complaints heard. _Great._

"I know," Megure grimaced, "On the other hand, after we prove it wasn't you, you can help with the investigation?" It was half plea, half peace-offer.

"I'm not annoyed with _you,"_ Shinichi assured. "I'm tempted to say 'no' just to make the idiot wait longer, but, well… that's not fair to the victim. I'll do what I can, Megure-keibu."

The inspector gave him a smile that was simultaneously apologetic and grateful, "I really _am_ sorry, Kudo-kun. At least there's a simple way to prove it wasn't you."

Yeah, by getting a mold of his teeth. Like a _dog,_ really. Ugh. He had _known_ something like this would happen eventually, but he hadn't been expecting it quite so soon. "You might want to destroy the mold after you get your verification and the trial's over," Shinichi sighed. "I _really_ don't want some overly intrepid fan, thief, would-be murderer, or reporter to get their hands on it. Or anyone else, for that matter."

Megure wasn't the only one to wince at that, and Takagi made a disgruntled face, "Yeah, that would be bad."

Shinichi wave, "More annoying, probably. And time-consuming. And _stupid._ Ugh, my life is ridiculous."

Sato gave a startled snort and shrugged when the other officers looked at her, "Kudo-kun's right; his life _is_ ridiculous."

And they didn't even know the half of it.

(It turned out even more ridiculous in that the ambassador's driver—the one who'd played on the man's unusual superstitions to prompt Shinichi's involvement—was the one who'd tried to frame him. _Badly,_ at that. On the up-side, the ambassador apologized for both the accusation and the inconvenience and even meant it when he did.)

 _xxxx_

Kaito felt he was within his rights to be offended on Shinichi's behalf. Fine, yes, he'd been expecting something of the sort, considering his boyfriend's luck, but that didn't mean it was okay! Especially when Kaito wasn't there to offer at least some kind of support!

Shinichi just rolled his eyes and huffed when Kaito checked him over with an eye for stress or injury. (He found a relatively mild amount of the first, but no sign of the second. Small mercies.)

"Come on, Kaito," Shinichi sighed, and Kaito found himself caught by the scruff of his neck and pointedly directed _away_ from the manor-style house he'd been given the address to when a sheepish-sounding Takagi-keiji had called him, and he _supposed_ that pranking a foreign dignitary was probably a bad idea. Maybe he'd see if there were any excuses for Kid to make an appearance…

Shinichi gave him a light shake, "No, Kaito."

Mind reading. Seriously. _Mind. Reading._

"You're just predictable about some things," Shinichi refuted.

Kaito paused, noting the fairly subtle attention Sato and a few of the other not-yet-left officers were directing their way. "Are you sure you can't read minds?" he asked, "Because you respond to things I'm thinking eerily often."

Shinichi gave a half-shrug, his eyes also flicking briefly to the attentive watchers, "Not as such, no. If I _could_ read minds, I wouldn't have to spend half so much time looking for evidence before solving a case."

Kaito considered that, "Point," he conceded. "… although, question: 'as such'?"

"Yours, sometimes. In general, no," Shinichi informed him dryly. "Also, you have a look. It says 'I want to cause something colorful, chaotic, and embarrassing for the target in my sights'. I see it directed at Hakuba quite often."

Oh. Well, huh. He didn't want to start covering those tells—he might end up slipping into KID-mode, and that could get messy somewhere down the line, and it probably wouldn't work on Shinichi anyway. He pouted, "Fine. I'll not prank a foreign ambassador."

Shinichi made a satisfied sound and let go of his scruff, clearly and simply taking him at his word. It made Kaito feel a little sappy—he would keep his word, of course, that wasn't in question; but even Aoko would have kept giving him suspicious looks for a while, and she had known him long enough that she should know he didn't break promises if there was any way he could keep them. There _had_ been a few times where he'd been late or missed something entirely due to being sniped at or followed by people he _really_ didn't want to lead to his life and friends, though.

He'd learned that lesson when Snake had targeted Aoko and Nakamori-keibu for his tendency to use them as disguises. Although now, at least, they'd gotten the idea that the more often he disguised as someone, the less likely it was for him to be that person. Which he might be able to use, come to think.

Shinichi's shoulder bumped his, "Come on, you. I need chocolate."

 _Oooh._ Kaito perked up in interest, "There's a plan I can get behind. Where's a good place near here…?" he glanced around to reacquire his bearings and grinned, "This way!"

Shinichi smiled and fell in step beside him, and Kaito basked in the easy trust. (He never wanted to break that trust, because there were so few who _trusted_ him, and fewer he could trust right back.)

 _xxxx_

Heiji eyed the tabloid headline and grimaced, not sure what to do about it. Normally, he ignored the things entirely—tabloids weren't exactly the most reliable sources of information—but Kazuha had smacked it into his hands and ordered him to start reading, and now he knew why.

"Damn it, Kudo," he muttered, skimming through the short article, "Ahou. Just had ta get yerself shot again." Which the guy was usually good about not, actually. Heiji was pretty sure he'd been shot more than Kudo had, at least when Kudo was miniaturized. Unless Kudo just hadn't mentioned it, which was… not impossible. He tended to treat smaller injuries as irrelevant even before they disappeared in minutes.

Which was _weird,_ for the record. Then again, Kudo was right: vampirism wasn't any weirder than age regression. That they'd both happened to the same person was the really weird part.

Either way, Kudo clearly needed more minders. Kuroba obviously couldn't handle it on his own, though he did a pretty good job for just one person. Better than Heiji ever had, anyway.

Still. Sounded like he needed to plan a visit to Tokyo. Maybe more than a visit. Wasn't something he'd originally planned (Heiji was Osakan and damn proud of it), but maybe transferring schools wasn't a bad idea...

Eh, he'd think about it. If they seemed to be doing all right on their own, maybe not, but with the vampire thing getting out to the public, Heiji had to admit to being a bit worried.

(At least he hadn't been getting nightmares yet. He wasn't sure how much trust to put in dreams, but they'd been right before. And... well. Vampire. Prophetic dreams weren't really a stretch.)

Still, visit first. Then he could decide on the rest.

"Oi, Kazuha! Wan' ta head ta Tokyo this weekend?"

Kudo'd better appreciate how much trouble Heiji went to for him.

 _xxxx_


	47. Believed

_Hey, look! I'm alive. Things are... iffy, but not too bad. We've (as in, my doctor) put me on a nerve medication that is... helping. Provisionally. But better than it was before. It_ does _have some annoying side effects, but they are (amusingly enough) mostly the same sort of thing that happens during headache-spikes anyway, so. (Excessive light sensitivity with headache versus excessive light sensitivity_ without _headache. No contest, really.) Anyway, controlled to a degree. Which is better than it was, so yay!_

 _Also, filler-y, but. Proof of life._

 _ **(47)**_  
 _ **Believed**_

This. _This_ was why Kaito loved Shinichi's friends. All of them. On principle.

Hattori Heiji had just shown up, unannounced, with an unrepentant grin and an offer to help mind Shinichi.

The fact that Shinichi only rolled his eyes and let the Osakan in meant it was par for the course, and while Ran-san hadn't pulled anything like that _yet,_ he had the feeling the only reason she hadn't was because she knew that Kaito was making sure Shinichi ate and wasn't entirely sure what to do to keep a vampire healthy anyway, because Shinichi had long since admitted her main reason for showing up on his doorstep was to bully him into eating properly.

Or bribe, in the case of bringing food.

Otherwise, it was apparently Suzuki-san's job to arrange ridiculous outings, and considering that all the ones Kaito had witnessed involved violence at least and multiple deaths at worst, he wasn't sure how recommended the girl's planning was.

(Then again, Shinichi or his mini-self had always been there, and that had proven to be a well-used recipe for murder and mayhem, so it probably wasn't actually the girl's fault. He just didn't feel overly charitable towards her fan-crush on his alter-ego, which was kind of new. He usually found that kind of attention amusing—but he also didn't usually have it quite so close to hand, and he had the solid knowledge that he was already in a relationship thrumming in the back of his head. Still, it wasn't her fault she didn't know that, and despite her dramatics, she did seem loyal to her boyfriend, who in turn didn't seem threatened by her obsession and general flirtatious attitude.)

"Hattori," Shinichi eyed his fellow detective for a moment, then sighed, tonguing a fang and shaking his head. "You worry too much. Take it up with Kaito and Haibara if you want a time share."

Kaito snickered, "Time share? Really, Shin-shin?"

Shinichi shrugged, casually unrepentant. "I'm okay with not having much time to myself, but I may have a slight fear of falling bodies becoming more common in Tokyo if Hattori sticks around too long."

"Oi, brat," Hattori complained, "I'm no' some kinda curse! Tha' sorta thin' never happens wit jus' me!"

"No," Shinichi agreed dryly, apparently ignoring the 'brat' comment (Kaito was pretty sure that had to do with the Osakan having met Shinichi first as a not-really-six-year-old and habits gained then), "but I think your presence compounds mine."

Hattori opened his mouth, paused, then closed it again. A moment later, he tilted his head, "Ya migh' have a point, there, Kudo."

Yeah, Kaito thought that, too. Shinichi stumbling across bodies as often as he did _couldn't_ be natural, and the fact that they started both increasing in number and falling from above when Hattori was in orbit somewhere kind of made the 'compounded curse' theory seem pretty sound.

Whether or not Shinichi actually believed that or was just keeping up the vampire thing was a question for another time—and a lack of audience. Still, either way that was a point. Kaito didn't want to have to deal with more bodies than Shinichi already attracted, and he definitely didn't want to deal with bodies that rained from above.

Maybe having the backup around long-term wasn't worth it...

Well. The guy _had_ said two days this trip. Call it a test run?

 _xxxx_

Heiji wasn't quite sure which was weirder: Kudo accepting superstitions as a valid explanation or Kudo being a mythological monster. (He wasn't going to say it out loud, but those fangs got to him, just a bit.)

He also wasn't sure whether Kuroba accepting both was weird or not, although the guy did claim to have had a witch in his class in high school. So, probably not weird that he took Kudo in stride, if he was being literal with the 'witch' thing.

And if he was, that meant there was a witch in Tokyo, as well as a vampire.

It felt like a bad thing that he _didn't want to know that_. Well, not _that_ he didn't want to know. That he was a _detective_ who didn't want to know. Kudo had steadfastly informed him, time and again (often while proving some mythological or superstitious explanation _wrong_ ), that 'evidence before conclusion' was absolutely necessary.

If Kudo had accepted it, there was probably more evidence than just the fangs and the healing. (Heiji _really_ didn't want to know. Kudo knowing was good enough—if Heiji ever needed to know, Kudo would undoubtedly tell him.)

Anyway, the whole 'compounding a curse' thing? Yeah, Heiji might possibly get where that had come from. The literal first time he'd run into an incidental murder, Kudo had been there—he hadn't _met_ the guy then, but he had been there. The second, mini-Kudo had first been introduced to him. Since then, he'd not run into a single incidental murder that wasn't in some way connected to Kudo, even if only obliquely.

The fact that the number of bodies _Kudo_ ran into seemed to go up whenever he and Heiji were in the same place... yeah. Okay. Maybe moving to Tokyo wasn't such a good idea. He wasn't going to stop visiting, though.

"Come on, Hattori," Kudo herded him towards the door, Kuroba preceding them both. "While you were busy with your thoughts, Kaito picked a place for lunch. We're going."

Heiji blinked, then shrugged. "... Righ'. Where to?"

 _xxxx_

Shinichi found it reluctantly amusing (and more than a little annoying) that his fan-base hadn't just expanded; it had _mutated_.

Good detectives were rare, and generally gained a fan-following. Detectives as good as he was were almost unheard-of—even Hattori (reluctantly, and only sometimes) admitted that Shinichi was the best. (As it was, Shinichi was pretty sure he was second best, and if his father had decided to be a detective instead of a writer as a career, he himself would be more-or-less obsolete. He wasn't going to tell that to Hattori, though.) Naturally, the fact that he was young _and_ as good as he was had gained him a much wider and much younger fan-base than most detectives got.

Some of his more faithful fans, those who'd been following his cases since he'd first started solving them himself in his younger years, seemed to be dismissing the rumors generated by that tabloid article. Considering how steadfastly he'd denied the supernatural (which, okay. He wasn't entirely sure of 'impossible' anymore. Science or not, de-aging was ridiculous and effective vampirism even more so. Kaito claimed real magic existed, and that there had been a witch in his high school class. Shinichi, knowing Kaito, didn't think he'd be taken in by tricks,) it wasn't too surprising that the more logical people who followed his cases would dismiss something accusing him of being something mythological.

Some of his fans were also fantasy/cult/mythology fans, and those ones seemed to very much like the idea of 'vampire detective'. Then there were the new ones, the ones that hadn't cared about the 'detective' part until the 'vampire' part came into the figurative light.

Put together, it meant that going out to lunch with Kaito and Hattori garnered some attention.

Fun fact: Kaito was eminently capable of drawing attention back away from Shinichi in truly ridiculous and spectacular manners, without even embarrassing himself while doing so.

Equally fun fact: Hattori just about swallowed his own tongue when the first dove popped out of Kaito's sleeve. "Where tha—kuso, tha' thing can' ha' been there th'whole time!"

Shinichi smirked, and then about a third of Kaito's flock burst out of hiding, flying eye-dazzling patterns around the magician as he started an all-out show, neatly distracting from the celebrity nearby.

(He was starting to think he loved Kaito, too.)

 _xxxx_

"Okay," Kaito sighed, "Hattori-san, you aren't allowed to stay for long. This? This is just... yeah. No. You're now on a very _limited_ time share."

Shinichi was inclined to agree. Two bodies from a rooftop and another still up there, looking a lot like a triple homicide and _how_. Just.

It was going to take a while. The challenge was... invigorating, in a way. Things that made him think always were, even when they were as terrible as this. Still, he hated it when the smart ones turned killer, because they could have been so much better than that. It felt so much more like potential lost.

(Three dead, and a trick to delay the discovery while making it look like it had been close to immediate. If not for a slight failing in the mechanism which left one body still on the rooftop, it would have taken longer to determine that delay. They were already out of rigor, thanks to the warmth under a tarp on a sunny day, but not—well. Not smelling of decay, not yet.)

"Righ'," Hattori grimaced. "Damn. Sorry, Kudo."

Shinichi sighed, too. "It's not actually your fault," he informed, not bothering to hide the weariness in his voice as he hung up his phone, Division One on the way. Then he flipped his mentality to the challenge, re-classified the dead people as 'evidence', and got to work.

(Jealous co-worker, as it turned out. Jealous and likely more than slightly insane. Shinichi wished people made more sense. What was the point of taking life like that? All that was—the person would likely have been accepted as a friend if he'd just approached them instead of turning his thoughts in on himself and then to hate and 'revenge'. And now... well, now he was going to spend quite a bit of time in prison, but no amount of penitence would bring back the dead.)

Kaito bumped shoulders with him and handed over a mug that Shinichi was reasonably sure belonged to Sato-san, filled with what looked like about half a packet of Synth. Shinichi offered a wan smile, settling at his own desk to fill out the paperwork while Hattori did the same at Chiba's desk across the room.

Kaito snagged a clipboard from nowhere and perched on Shinichi's desk-corner, as had become habit for him, and started scribbling away with the air of someone who wanted the night over, casting periodic concerned glances Shinichi's way.

After the fourth, Shinichi huffed and poked his knee, "Kaito. I'm fine. Stop that."

"But-"

"It's fine," he insisted. There had been more than a passing resemblance in two different ways to the case with Shucho-san, the girl he and his accomplices had murdered, and Shinichi's own 'murder' which may or may not have had actual heart failure involved somewhere, since he had no idea what had happened between when he'd passed out and when he'd woken up, but Shinichi was good at compartmentalizing.

He didn't like it, but he could do it with little difficulty. "He wasn't-" the guy had the killing jealous-streak and a rather similar appearance, but... "-Shucho," he decided on. "And even if he had been, I'm all right."

Hattori frowned at his paperwork, clearly eavesdropping as shamelessly as the rest of the people in the office, if less obviously.

Kaito gave his own huff, looking mildly ruffled. "Will you not read my mind, please? It's creepy."

Shinichi snorted, "If you don't want me to know what you're thinking, don't aim your thoughts at me. It's kind of hard to miss when you're that obvious."

Kaito pouted, "I'm not obvious!"

Hattori gave up on pretending to do his paperwork and was openly watching, a look of sheer curiosity in his eyes. He'd also opened and then rapidly shut his mouth twice, clearly keeping himself quiet by sheer force of will.

Shinichi opted to ignore that and kept his attention largely on Kaito. "... uh, yes, you are."

"He's really _no'_ , Kudo," Hattori added in his two cents.

"There, see!?" Kaito gestured to the detective off to the side with an air of victory, "I'm _not_ obvious!"

"Fine, I will amend: you think loudly. And in color."

Kaito opened his mouth, paused, and tilted his head. After a moment, he closed it again. Finally he shrugged, "I can't really dispute that."

Takagi decided it was his turn to join the conversation, "Ano, Kudo-kun? I thought you said you couldn't read minds."

Shinichi twisted to glance at him and shrugged, "In general, I can't. Him?" he gestured to the magician perched on his desk, "One _could_ say 'yes'."

Kaito folded his arms petulantly, "Should _never_ have fed you."

Shinichi casually reached up to shove Kaito off the desk one handed, capitalizing on his relatively unbalanced position, although the ready-made reinforcement of the 'vampire' story was kind of handy.

However, as he'd told Sato: just because he couldn't read minds didn't mean he couldn't tell what certain people were thinking. Kaito really _was_ obvious, to Shinichi. Not only did he know him well, but even before then he'd found himself able to largely predict Kid. Now—well, now he knew the magician-thief well enough to guess his thoughts with reasonable accuracy.

Kaito just liked drawing attention to it, and Shinichi wasn't oblivious enough to miss the intent behind that repeated action.

Kaito squawked and managed to land mostly on his feet, then straightened with a grin, "All right, I deserved that. I'll behave."

Shinichi snorted softly, "We'll see how long that lasts. Finish your paperwork so we can get out of here—and that goes for you, too, Hattori."

 _xxxx_


	48. Theorized

_I'm not_ _dead. Or seriously injured. There is something going on where my vision is... in flux, I suppose. Eyestrain is making the usual headache worse. Some other issues, nothing life-threatening in any direct manner, but - I don't have internet anymore, and sitting in front of a screen is difficult. I'm still working out all the low-vision options, and the screenreader and speech recognition, so - once I get those down, I may be able to write more again. Until then, updates will be sporadic and unpredictable. **  
**_

 _ **Theorized**_

A few days of relative peace passed after Hattori left, and then things went sideways again, although slightly unusually in the _type_ of sideways.

 _Head, meet desk_ , Shinichi thought wryly, sighing. At least nothing had blown up yet.

Although the possibility existed that something still would. "Any news from Nakamori?"

"Not since the note came in, but he got sidetracked by that string of gang convenience store robberies."

"Hm," Shinichi made a few notes and flipped his latest cold-case file closed, standing up to go hand it to Megure. "Any news on those? That last one had injuries, didn't it?"

"Aa," Chiba sighed, rubbing his face, "Nothing too serious, but there was a broken arm and a moderate concussion. The one before it had minor injuries—bruising—but the one before that didn't have any injuries at all. It seems like they're escalating."

Escalation was a _bad_ thing. "And they still don't have any solid leads?"

"Not that I've heard. Then again, it _is_ Second Division, and it's the Ekoda building that has the people working the case, so we may just not have heard yet."

But a heist... hm. Kaito had sent out the note just before the first of the rapid-fire string of robberies, but with Kid being such a—well, frankly, _obsession_ for Nakamori-keibu, he was probably splitting his attention, which would make it harder to track down the gang.

"Maybe I should head over there," he mused out loud. "If Nakamori-keibu is trying to multitask, it might be slowing him down."

"Are we boring you, Kudo-kun?" Sato asked, tone lightly teasing.

Shinichi shook his head, "I'd just kind of like a case where no one's _died_. And that string of robberies is... unsettling." It was. Not in the way being in a place where someone had just been killed but they hadn't yet found the body*, but with a similar sense of tight chill.

Chiba nodded, looking a bit sympathetic, and Sato winced slightly. "Well, Division Two is the place to go if you're looking for that kind of break."

"Mm," Shinichi hummed noncommittally. He had a bad feeling, but... maybe he could head something off?

"Where is Kuroba-kun, anyway?" Sato asked, casting a frowning glance around the room like it would make him appear.

"Home with a pile of books," Shinichi replied, which was true. "He's got a few big tests coming up." Also true. The fact that the two things were largely unrelated was beside the point.

"Thinking of, don't you have some tests coming up, too?"

Shinichi shrugged, "I would, if I wasn't taking all of my classes online at self-pace." Having his reading speed and memory made that kind of thing easy, and he was glad not to have to take anything in a classroom. It seemed like asking for trouble, to head back and forth to the university like that.

Not to mention how much cases tended to cut into things like attendance. He was just lucky what he needed to take was available at self-pace, because he could work on it when he had time without worrying about getting ahead or falling behind. Poor Kaito had most of his online courses with a video-chat teacher and had to actually be in front of a computer a few times a week, though that didn't eat up nearly as much time as a classroom.

"You managed to find all the classes you needed like that?" Sato sounded surprised.

"Well, some were harder to locate than others," Shinichi admitted, "but since they are online, I'm managing. There's a toxicology one that's a bit of an annoyance, because I had to take it in French if I wanted the online self-pace, and my French is... not the best. But I'm passing, so that's okay."

Sato goggled at him, and he vaguely noticed she wasn't the only one.

"What?"

"You speak French?" Chiba asked.

"No," Shinichi stated. "but I'm getting to where I can read and write it all right. That class is going to take the longest, but... well. My luck makes trying to take it the normal way... less than feasible. I'll work on _speaking_ when I find the time and a teacher who knows it."

"Wow," Sato stared for a moment more, "Well, now that we have all reinforced our previous belief that Kudo-kun is a terrifying genius... are you going to head over to the Ekoda precinct? Because there's a stack of paperwork that needs to be delivered and you could probably ride with whoever gets sent to take it."

Oh? Handy. "In that case, I wouldn't mind a change of scenery."

 _xxxx_

While the Beika precinct regulars had gotten to be pretty at ease with Shinichi—even the ones that weren't from Division One—Sato (who had ended up being the one volunteered to drive, as Takagi had the flu so she was down a partner for a few days) was slightly surprised to see that most of Ekoda's officers weren't all that flighty.

Those times they'd worked with other district's officers at murder scenes had generally involved fair amount of jumpiness, after all.

Then again, Kudo-kun was always pretty intent while he was working a case and far less than actively friendly. Still, only about half of the people in Ekoda's Division One got nervous as they handed over the pile of folders, and the officers in the break room actually waved and greeted Kudo-kun, asking for introductions.

He gave a fairly good-natured huff, "Right, Sato-san? These are Kimura Daisuke, Yamakawa Hito, and Sensui Yoichi. They're on the Taskforce," he turned to give them all a bland once-over and gestured to her, "This is Sato Miwako. She's part of Beika's Division One and I work with her and her partner pretty often. Is Nakamori-keibu in his office?"

The one he'd introduced as 'Yamakawa Hito' nodded, "Yeah, he's getting pretty worked up about the latest report on those robberies, but you can go see him if you don't mind getting shouted at."

Kudo-kun grimaced faintly, "Maybe I'll get lucky and he'll keep it to a dull roar," he muttered, not sounding very optimistic, "Thanks, Frank. I'll go see what I can do."

While Sato wondered how one got 'Frank' out of 'Yamakawa Hito', Kudo nodded to her, "Thanks for the ride, Sato-san. I'll probably see you tomorrow," the 'at a murder scene' was left unsaid.

"Good luck, Kudo-kun," she offered instead, because while he hadn't tripped over a corpse since the day before and doing so by sometime tomorrow was probably almost guaranteed, there was no way she was _voicing_ agreement to that unspoken statement.

He gave her a wry sort of half-smile and disappeared in the direction of the Division Two bullpen. Sato watched him go, then turned her attention to the surprisingly fond looks being directed after him from two of the officers and the wincingly amused one from the third.

"You guys are much more relaxed around Kudo-kun than the Haido officers," she observed.

Kimura-san grinned, "He's an overprotective mama bear. It's cute."

Sato blinked. While she had definitely noticed Kudo-kun's tendency to throw himself into dangerous situations if someone else was in danger first (case in point, taking a bullet for her partner), 'mama bear' wasn't the phrase that had come to mind.

"Ano..." she hesitated, wondering what exactly to say to that.

Yamakawa-san seemed to think that over, "He did go pretty feral when that 'Snake' guy pulled a gun on Daisuke," he agreed. "I was at the other end of the alley and I could _still_ hear him growling."

... growling. Which... yeah, Kudo-kun _had_ picked up a habit of making a guttural sort of rumble in the back of his throat when he was irritated or frustrated, but she hadn't made the mental connection to 'growl' even though that was a pretty good description. "You know, I haven't seen him angry in a while," she admitted. "He used to get this intense sort of glare that tended to make criminals start confessing, but now most of them give in before he hits that expression."

"You should hear him when Kuroba-kun pulls something ridiculous, then," Sensui-san shook his head, more wry than anything else, "He actually managed to get Nakamori-keibu to break off mid-rant. I've heard _dogs_ less intimidating when they snarl."

"One of the murders recently had a dog in the next apartment over," Sato mused out loud. "It was out on the porch and wouldn't stop barking while we were doing our investigation, and then Kudo-kun went to the porch of the apartment we were in and the dog went quiet. I never did ask how he got it to settle down." Dogs had loved Conan-kun, though, and she couldn't imagine Kudo-kun would scare one on purpose. He was too nice for that, fangs or no.

"What do you bet dogs understand him now?" Kimura-san offered. "Aren't there stories about vampires and wolves?"

"Dogs are descended from wolves," Yamakawa-san agreed.

"I wonder if he can understand them back?" Sensui looked intrigued.

... Sato suddenly knew why the Taskforce officers were so laid back around Kudo-kun. They apparently didn't just take insanity in stride, they _perpetuated_ it. Although... well. Kudo _had_ proved vampires, and pretty much proved some of the legends. And _disproved_ a fair number more, but still...

She sighed, "I should be getting back to Beika. Look after Kudo-kun for us, will you? Kuroba-kun's been busy for a couple days and he's starting to get a little twitchy."

There was a collective pause, and Kimura-san was the one to wince, "Right. We'll do our best, Sato-san, and if all else fails, Nakamori-keibu could call Kuroba-kun over."

Ekoda precinct was a lot closer to where Kuroba-kun lived than Beika precint, and while Kudo-kun flat-out refused to call Kuroba-kun for anything less than an emergency when he apparently was getting ready for some tests, she was betting Nakamori-keibu would have fewer qualms with calling himself if he thought he needed to, especially since they were neighbors. She thanked them politely and took her leave, with a fair number of new theories to share with the office when she got back.

Chiba would probably like the 'communicates with dogs' one, if nothing else.

 _xxxx_

Nakamori was approximately six different types and four different levels of annoyed, and when someone knocked on his office door while he was banging his head against a proverbial brick wall while trying to figure out exactly where the escalating gang robberies were going to hit next, he barked an "Enter!" that was harsher than was probably necessary.

Kudo Shinichi stepped in the door, and Nakamori spent a second or three wondering where Kaito was before remembering it was a test week and that if Aoko was buried in books, Kaito probably was, too.

Which actually begged the question of why Kudo _wasn't_ , but Kudo seemed to spend about ninety percent of his time either in police stations or at crime scenes, so asking was liable to get an answer he'd wish he hadn't learned.

So. _Not_ asking. There was a question he did want answered, though. "What're you doing here?" he grumped.

"Chiba-keiji mentioned the gang robberies, and..." Kudo shrugged, the corner of his lip curling up to expose his left fang, and Nakamori tried not to be freaked out by that. "I have a bad feeling, is all. Is there anything I can help with?"

He'd heard _stories_ about Kudo's 'bad feelings'. Considering the last time he'd said 'bad feeling' on a police case, he'd ended up taking a bullet for an officer who would definitely have died otherwise...

(Also, there was a rumor out of Division One that his 'bad feelings' had led to him going undercover to take down that multi-national crime syndicate, and even if that one wasn't true, there'd been enough proof of the accuracy of those things that he wasn't too keen on turning aside the offered aid. Besides, it was _Kudo_.)

Instead of answering in the conventional sense, he huffed and shoved the file in his hand across his desk, gesturing for the younger male to take it. Who knew? Maybe fresh eyes would help.

Kudo stepped forward and picked it up, favoring him with a slightly raised eyebrow and Nakamori sat back and folded his arms, pointedly keeping quiet.

Kudo shrugged slightly and flicked the folder open, skimming through the reports quickly before glancing at the first of the pictures. He blinked, frowned, and started flipping through them, his eyes going unnervingly sharp after he'd gotten somewhere around the middle of them.

Abruptly, Kudo snagged out the photos, discarding the folder to the guest chair and slapping three of the pictures onto the desk before shuffling through the rest, occasionally picking out another to add to his lineup.

Nakamori was fascinated. He had no idea what Kudo was seeing, but the way his gaze got hard and bright and he made a sound like a cut-off growl in his throat—and there were the fangs again—he was definitely seeing _something_.

When no explanation seemed forthcoming, Nakamori cleared his throat.

Kudo blinked, his eyes losing that unnerving bright-sharp edge as he shook himself and looked up. "Right. Sorry. Here," he gestured at the seven pictures he'd arrayed before him in two lines, one of three and one of four, and Nakamori got up to go around the desk.

He'd seen the pictures before, of course—the jumble of mess left behind at each scene had been photographed even though it didn't seem particularly important, more like random aggression taken out on inanimate objects than the people in the stores which, while destructive and messy, was better than them hurting _people_.

Apparently Kudo had spotted something in common with those random messes, though, and... he was pointing to little brown dots. One in one of pictures, two in another four, and three in one and four in the last. Dots that didn't really look out of place, some kind of wrapper, probably, but...

Kudo huffed and cast around for a moment, "Do you have a magnifying glass?" he asked.

"What kind of question is _that?_ " Nakamori was mildly offended as he circled back around his desk to dig into his drawer of small tools. This was his _office_. Of _course_ he had a magnifying glass!

Kudo gave a semi-apologetic shrug, "I think Megure-keibu loses his to borrowers at least three times a week."

Huh. Well, okay, fair enough. Still, he assumed this meant those wrappers had some kind of significance—and they did. Those... weren't from the kind of candy you'd find in a convenience store. Or _cheap_ , for that matter, which implied things—that oddly-shaded gold sheen was something he'd only seen on European imports.

And the fact that there were some at most of the scenes—more at the ones where they'd taken longer and where a few people had gotten banged up—someone ate those things like a chain-smoker went through cigarettes.

"Imported," Kudo confirmed Nakamori's grumbling. "There won't be many places that carry those, and if someone eats as many as it looks like, either they're buying them frequently or in bulk. I suppose they could be ordered online, too, and that would be harder to track down, but it's a habit that would attract some kind of attention either way, especially in a robbery gang. I'll see if Hakuba has any ideas about local specialty stores—all the stores hit have been in Ekoda so far, right?"

Nakamori nodded, "How did you even see those? They're _tiny_." And it was a good thing the pictures hadn't been taken digitally, or there's no way a magnifying glass would have helped with seeing what was on them.

For a moment, Kudo looked bewildered, glancing back at the photographs like he didn't understand the question. "Are they?"

Okay then. Kudo apparently had supernatural vision to go with the fangs. As if he wasn't a scary enough detective already.

"Yes," Nakamori informed him anyway, "they are. I certainly couldn't tell what they were without the magnifying glass, and I still don't know what they say."

"Oh," Kudo blinked, "Well, they're too crumpled to really tell for sure, but what I can see looks familiar. I think I've seen my mom with them—I'll check if there's a box at home tonight if I don't find out what they are before then. And, uh... they've been moving southwest through the smaller stores, right? Places that won't have very good security systems? It's been every few days... we're probably due another within a day or three."

They did have a rough profile on types of places and a general eye on four different stores that were likely to get hit.

Kudo's frown came back, "But they've also been getting more reckless, and causing more damage. People have been hurt in the last few, as well, and last time the injuries were more serious. There's a reason for this aside from greed. There has to be."

"Yeah," Nakamori huffed, "I thought that, too. But hell if I've got any clue _what_. The higher-ups are giving me grief for not working on the next Kid heist, but at least that idiot doesn't _hurt_ people!" Kid was annoying. No, Kid was _infuriating_ , not annoying. But he didn't hurt people and there was only one of him. Whatever the hell this group was up to—they _were_ starting to hurt people, and Nakamori had his priorities.

Kudo gave him a long, evaluating sort of look, then smiled slightly. It was probably unintentional, but that made his fangs peek over his lower lip. "No, he doesn't," Kudo agreed, "I'll see if anyone else has any ideas and get back to you. Just... be _careful_ , all right? It'd break Kaito's heart if something happened to you."

While Nakamori was still trying to come up with a response to that, Kudo nodded once and disappeared back out the door.

... Kudo was a _weird_ kid. He might even be weirder than his little cousin Edogawa! (Which, that actually might explain a lot about Conan. Whatever it was, it was clearly genetic.)

 _xxxx_

 _*Canon, at least to the anime, kid you not. To quote Conan in episode 487 when they haven't actually found a body yet_ , "I've got a bad feeling. A sensation like a strangling in my chest, suffocating me. Like it always does at a time like this."


	49. Planned

_Here's this chapter. Things are slow going now, but I haven't given up! On the up-side, it doesn't look like I'm going to go_ completely _blind. On the down-side, reading is beyond me. The Ease of Access Center helps, but I still need actual people help to get writing done these days. Also, the screen reader is_ weird _with pronunciation sometimes.  
_

 _ **(49)**_  
 _ **Planned**_

Kaito wasn't bored. Not really. He _was_ a little frustrated—just most of his time in the past day or three had been eaten up with heist-planning and he also had to do at least _some_ studying for the scholastic tests he had coming up within the next week—mostly because he hadn't had much time for Shinichi.

He felt a bit bad about that, and worse that Shinichi was looking pretty tired when he managed to scrounge himself enough time to stop in for a visit. He wasn't sure whether the parents of the Kudo family were still around or not, but he definitely remembered Science-san's introductory comments on Shinichi's lack of sleeping habits, and Shinichi's own admission that he found it easier to sleep when Kaito was in the house.

Shinichi wasn't getting anything close to tanuki-eyes, or even vague shadows, but he moved like he was tired. "Shin-shin?"

"Hey," Shinichi offered a smile over his shoulder even as he opened another cupboard, and Kaito couldn't quite figure out what he was after as he swiped three different boxes of imported chocolates off one of the upper shelves—probably his mother's, considering Shinichi's usual opinion of sweets—and flipped the lids of two of them open in quick succession before blinking, picking out a truffle wrapped in a brown-gold foil with an oddly purple sheen and a trident-looking symbol, then examined it for a moment before nodding to himself.

"...dare I ask?" he hazarded.

"Ah, that string of robberies Nakamori-keibu's been working on. There've been these wrappers at all of them, and I _knew_ I'd seen them somewhere in this house. So, now we probably have a brand—I'll have to drop this off with Second's lab for a comparison, but it should at least help us narrow things down."

Case. Of course. But if it was one of Nakamori-keibu's, at least Shinichi was avoiding dead people. Thinking of, Kaito hadn't been there to bully him about health. "Have you been taking your meds?" he asked, moving in to swipe up the two unnecessary boxes and return them to their shelf.

Shinichi blinked, frowned, and tilted his head. "Probably not as regularly as I should."

Kaito didn't sigh. He knew how bad Shinichi was at taking care of himself—it wasn't even the kind of lack of care caused by depression, he just got so caught up in things he forgot. Shinichi knew he was bad about it too, and he _did_ try, but knowing you were bad at something and reliably remembering to address the fault were two very different things. "I'll send you texts when I can't pester in person, then," he decided out loud.

Shinichi made an interesting sort of face—half wince, half grateful smile. "You staying the night, or do you have to head back to Ekoda?"

"Staying," Kaito told him. Because after seeing the not-great state his boyfriend was in, he was _insuring_ a decent night of sleep and a good breakfast in the morning. "How've you been holding up?"

"Not terrible," Shinichi assured. "Just—it's been a bit wearing. There were three murders and a suicide yesterday, and another murder this morning. Then I went and hid with the Taskforce for a while."

"Oh? Did that work?" Kaito dodged further into the kitchen and put the kettle on.

"For now," Shinichi paused for a moment, then sighed, "I have a bad feeling about that string of robberies, though. And the general pattern... there will probably be another one soon. They've been escalating: getting more frequent and more violent both."

Kaito frowned, "And Nakamori-keibu is splitting his attention with the heist next week, isn't he?"

"The higher-ups are more on his case for _not_ splitting his attention with your heist, but Nakamori-keibu has priorities. He chases Kid, but—people have been getting hurt in these robberies lately, and he straight up said 'at least that idiot doesn't hurt people' in reference to Kid while complaining about the grief they've been giving him for not spending any time on the heist note."

"Solve it for him?" Kaito asked. "Or would you rather I just explained it, if you're busy with the robberies? Or should I cancel or postpone or something?"

"... no, you should probably hold it. Without an explanation, that might cause trouble from the other direction—I know we have Snake, but there are still a few more stragglers out there. A sudden shift in habits could focus attention in unpleasant ways, and I haven't actually even seen the riddle yet. I suppose you could give me a copy, but it might be better for me to snag it off one of the Taskforce in the morning. It's still a few days off, right?"

"Mm," Kaito agreed, tapping his fingers lightly against the side of the kettle testingly, then decided it was about the right temperature and mixed one of Haibara's packets into a mug of warm-but-not-hot water. "I sent out the note earlier than usual."

Shinichi huffed at him and accepted the mug of not-quite-blood, exasperatedly amused and grateful. "Thanks. Hakuba may have already solved it for all I know. I didn't ask."

"Point," the Brit was _obsessed,_ if less so than he used to be. "Well, let me know if anything changes. Otherwise, I'll keep with the current plan."

Shinichi nodded, and Kaito frowned to himself at the generally subdued reactions. "Right. Have you eaten?"

Shinichi shook his head, taking a quick swallow from his mug—and the things you could get used to, because seeing Shinichi drinking what amounted to fake blood was now _normal—and_ tipping his head in the direction of the rice-cooker on the counter. "Rice should be finished soon. There's leftover curry in the fridge; I was just going to heat that up—there's more than enough for both of us, if you're hungry."

"I had dinner a while ago. Anyway, eat—then _sleep._ You look like you need it."

"Argh," Shinichi told him in a very articulate manner before chugging the last of his drink and going to check on the rice.

(Shinichi woke up at two in the morning. Kaito considered this a bad sign, because Shinichi didn't usually wake up with him around, and he decided he wasn't going to double-schedule a week with a heist and tests at the same time ever again as he herded Shinichi back to bed with a mug of tea.)

 _xxxx_

"Whoa!" Sensui skipped back a half-step, almost overbalancing, and the cause of his startlement caught his elbow in one hand and his opposite hand in the other, both steadying him and keeping him from upending hot coffee all over himself.

"Sorry," Kudo Shinichi gave an apologetic smile as he let go and stepped back. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"It's fine," Sensui put his unoccupied hand to his chest, the brief shot of adrenaline easing away as his heart-rate dropped back to normal. "It's fine... although if you could make noise while you're walking, that'd be nice."

"I'm not that quiet, am I?" Kudo asked, blinking in what looked like actual surprise.

Sensui waved at him to tag along and turned back towards the bullpen, assuming that's where Kudo was headed, and when the young detective followed without protest, he took a few seconds to actually listen.

"Well, you're not loud. Or average. _How_ do you walk that quietly?" Kudo was not a ninja.

Kudo shrugged, hesitating, "I don't know?" he offered, fangs catching the glare from the overhead florescents.

Right. Not a ninja, but still a vampire. "Well, whatever. It's not like it's a bad thing for a detective," he conceded. "On that note—why are you here, Kudo? I know Kuroba's not, and I haven't heard of anything along your usual lines...?"

"That string of robberies," Kudo explained. "I've got a bad feeling about them."

Oh. That was... not good, because there were rumors about Kudo's 'bad feelings' and those rumors all agreed that when Kudo had a bad feeling, things were going to get messy. And, with unfortunate frequency, _fatal._

"I'll spread the word," he decided. "Everyone will be more careful if they hear that."

Kudo blinked, paused, and then seemed to come to a decision. "At least it's good for _something,"_ he muttered, then sighed. "Anyway, I have a partial answer for Nakamori-keibu that may or may not actually help, but - well, it's worth trying."

If Kudo had a bad feeling, just about anything within the bounds of the law would be worth trying, and probably a few without. Sensui didn't say that out loud though; he was a police officer. "Right, well," familiar muffled bellowing made its way faintly out the cracked door of the bullpen, "He's in his office. If you want to brave the decibel, go right on in."

Kudo made a face and preceded Sensui into the Division Two bullpen at his teasing bow and gesture, and made his way straight to Nakamori's (closed, as expected) office door, rapping his knuckles against it loudly before walking in, either not waiting for an invitation or able to catch one that didn't carry to where Sensui was heading to his desk of the far wall.

He allowed himself to think ' _Good luck_ ,' in Kudo's direction, because if Kudo thought something bad was going to happen, they'd all need it.

 _xxxx_

The chocolate helped, Nakamori had to admit as following the trail of wrappers led them to a nervous young man who probably spent half his paycheck on the things he popped the way chain-smokers went through tobacco. And yet somehow he wasn't really showing it. He was no athlete, but he wasn't obese - just a bit overweight, and maybe a bit pale.

That young man saw the badge at his door and folded instantly, babbling about how they had to do it and that 'he' had made them do it, but it wasn't being enough anymore and his friends couldn't _keep_ doing it, because none of them wanted to and 'he' was scary and Nakamori had legitimately lost track of the rush of words.

He exchanged glances with his backup - Sensui and Daisuke, at the moment - and wished he'd asked Kudo to come. Then, instead of cuffing their compliant criminal, he led him out to the unmarked car they'd taken and drove him back to the station, dropping him in an interrogation room for someone who knew how to handle that kind of babble to deal with.

They got the next target, that the thug-group had started out as a group of pre-school-cum-college friends who'd stuck together the whole time and been in the right place at the wrong time and had an _actual_ criminal snag one of them who was being used as collateral against their cooperation.

Their actual criminal wanted money, and kept asking for more and more. The first store they'd robbed had been one that the hostage had used to frequent, so all of them were at least passingly familiar with the layout and the people. Once the six effective minions' jobs could really no longer keep up with demand, they'd gone in for robbing more and more often.

They weren't criminals, except that they were, and two had been getting more and more agitated, the stress eating away at restraint and tempers, and sooner or later someone was going to end up dead.

Unless they could snag them all and get the hostage out while also subduing someone who knew what he was doing well enough that it had taken this long to find a group of unwilling amateur robbers. And they'd needed Kudo Shinichi, who fixed in on the weirdest little things, and those things somehow always ended up being what gave them answers.

He called Kudo, whose phone number Kaito had cheerfully provided upon texted request.

" _Nakamori-keibu?_ " Kudo sounded puzzled as he answered his phone.

Well, that saved him having to declare his name, "What draws your attention at a crime scene?" he asked.

There was a brief silence, " _... things that stand out?_ "

That didn't help at all! Then again, it _was_ Kudo. Kudo'd been a freak of nature since well before he'd sprouted fangs - he was just the kind of freak of nature that the police were usually glad to have around. Although it was a little... _humbling,_ if he was being polite, to have a fourteen-year-old prove that he was smarter than the entirety of the Tokyo PD. It was slightly less so for a twenty-year-old and the fact that he wasn't exactly normal helped a bit on that front, too. "Well, whatever," he decided aloud. "Your candy wrappers got us a lead."

" _Great,_ " Kudo sounded genuinely pleased. " _Don't tell me over the phone, though - there have been issues with tapped lines on my end, and when the Organization was intact, on the police's, too. Better to be careful._ "

Well, _that_ was comforting. Note the sarcasm. "Fine. If you want to know, I'll be sorting out logistics in my office for the next few hours."

(It turned out that Kudo _did_ want to know, because he showed up not half an hour later for the report. Which - how had Kudo, not even a member of the police force, become such a part of the system that several inspectors would report to him if he asked? And the Superintendent-General never protested! Also, he was disturbingly good at planning traps. Nakamori took advantage of that, complaining all the while.

Kudo only smiled at him and took the complaints in stride. _Brat.)_

 _xxxx_


End file.
